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Exactly four years ago today, Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez clinched the gold medal for Spain in the men’s doubles event at Rio 2016. It was Nadal's second Olympic gold after he had won the same prize in the singles event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But for Lopez, it was his very first Olympic medal.
In a recent interview with Tenis Olimpico, Marc Lopez discussed his experience of playing and winning with Rafael Nadal. He also mentioned the great difficulties that the 19-time Grand Slam champion had to overcome in order to clinch the coveted medal.
Rafael Nadal is a fighter and gave himself up for gold: Marc Lopez
The duo of Nadal and Lopez weren't expected to do too much damage at the Rio Olympics despite going in as the sixth seeds. Rafael Nadal hadn't devoted much time to playing doubles (prior to the Olympics) due to the extreme workload of his singles schedule.
Lopez revealed that he wasn’t even supposed to partner Rafael Nadal in the first place - making their success even more commendable.
“Rafa (Nadal) had decided since the beginning of the year who played with Verdasco (Fernando) and Feli (López) decided he didn't want to go to Rio. I ran out of options to go to Rio,” Marc Lopez said.
However, things fell into place as Fernando Verdasco pulled out of the Rio Olympics, which gave Marc Lopez a chance to pair up once again with his best friend. In the conversation, Lopez even described how Rafael Nadal informed him of the news.
“At the last minute, Verdasco decides to resign and Rafa calls me and says - Verdasco is not going, together with Conchita we have thought that we play together,” Lopez went on.
The rest, as they say, is history. The duo beat the pairs of Haase-Rojer, Juan Martin del Potro-Gonzalez, Marach-Peya, Nestor-Pospisil and Tecau-Mergea to win the gold medal. Several of those pairs are veterans of the doubles circuit, and beating them was no small task.
But as per Marc Lopez, the greatest difficulty was overcoming Rafael Nadal's recurring wrist injury. Lopez lauded Nadal's indomitable spirit and explained how his best friend refused to give up despite his injury.
“He was coming very tightly. If I remember correctly, he had had a wrist injury and had to give up the mixed. He is a fighter, he gave himself up, left his skin and was about to win a singles medal, he was fourth, and we won the gold medal in doubles," Lopez added.
The win was even sweeter for them because of their long-standing friendship. They clearly cherished each other’s company, which in turn helped them bring out their best on the court.
The Rio run is something that both Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal will remember for years to come. For Lopez, winning a gold medal with his best friend was nothing short of ‘historic’.
"Being best friends and achieving something historic is very nice and we did it in Rio.”
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here
