Day 4 of Olympic tennis saw the Parisian weather sizzle as the on-court in second and third round matches heated up.
Let’s breakdown the ballers who made the final 8, the baseline battles and match results from the day four.
Gauff crashes out in emotional loss
Coco Gauff’s gold medal campaign came to a close Tuesday in an emotion-filled match in which the No. 2 seed fell to Croatia’s Donna Vekic, 7-6, 6-2.
The second set saw the top American woman entangle in a heated dispute with first the line judge, then the ITF tournament referee, Clare Wood.
“It always happens to me on this court,” Gauff relayed to the tournament referee. “I feel like I’ve been cheated on constantly,” Gauff noted, as tears streamed down the 20-year-old’s face.”
Read the full match report.
Don’t quite get the dispute that went down on show court? Check out NBC Olympics’ full breakdown of the match and ruling.
SEE MORE: Coco Gauff debates chair umpire after line call correction
Nadalcaraz cruises to the quarterfinals
The Paris Olympics’ favorite era-spanning Spanish doubles duo, 38-year-old Rafael Nadal and 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, roared to a second-round victory over the Dutch team of Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof in men’s doubles.
The Spaniards won a match tiebreak, 10-2, to settle things after the teams split the opening two sets, 6-4, 6(2)-7.
At the end, even the stoic Nadal couldn’t help but savor the moment.
“We had fun because the score was positive in the tiebreak. We have been suffering but we are enjoying playing together, we are creating good synergies, good energy, so yeah, we are having fun in general terms,” the legend said.
— Eric Goodman
SEE MORE: Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal advance in men’s doubles
Taylor Fritz fights back, Team USA progresses
Taylor Fritz fought back from a set down to a winning finish in the second round against Great Britain’s Jack Draper, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
The American couldn’t seem to find his footing in the first set and was visibly talking to himself and pointing at the court between points, as the Brit clocked 19 service winners to take the set.
But Fritz found his footing in set No. 2, pushing the net and wining 80% of net points.
Fritz managed to save nine break points in the match en route to victory.
Joining Fritz in Round 3 on the men’s side is No. 9 seed Tommy Paul, who defeated Jakub Mensik today definitively 6-3, 6-1. Danielle Collins clinched her spot into the quaterfinals after splitting sets with Cololmbian Camilla Osorio, but in the end prevailed, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
SEE MORE: Taylor Fritz fights to a winning finish in the second round
Andy Murray makes another great escape to keep career alive
Andy Murray again staved off the end of his illustrious career as he and British doubles partner Dan Evans beat Belgium’s Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in another Paris Games cliffhanger at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
Two-time Olympic singles champion Murray and his partner were cheered on by sizeable British contingent on a hot and muggy night on Court Suzanne Lenglen as they won, 6-3, 6-7(8), 11-9 to reach the quarter-finals.
Fritz and Gauff have riveting first round mixed doubles win
While Gauff’s singles dreams were dashed, the American still kept her eyes on an Olympic medal. In her post-match interview, she noted how she was
“It’s exciting,” Gauff said of her upcoming match. “I’m trying to do my best to mentally just be ready for that match. It was a tough match today, but I want to come home with something.”
Gauff’s mixed doubles campaign towards that medal started in stunning shape, as she paired with Fritz. The Americans, who are both in their Olympic debut, were a well-oiled machine while they took on Argentina’s Nadia Podorska and Maximo Gonzalez.
At the match point on Podoroska’s serve, a fan shouted on her second serve, distracting her. Gauff fired back a crosscourt returning winner to end the match. The crowd jeered at the final point as Fritz and Gauff approached the net for the handshake. Gauff was quick to say sorry to Podoroska, surely empathetic to how that last match point played out.
SEE MORE: Taylor Fritz, Coco Gauff win in riveting Round 1 mixed match
Olympic tennis results, July 30
Full Olympic tennis results from Monday, July 30:
Men’s singles l Women’s singles l Men’s doubles l Women’s doubles l Mixed doubles
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