DJOKAVIC PRAISE
It was a rollercoaster match for Zheng, who wanted back-to-back three-hour matches to defeat Navarro after which former world primary Angelique Kerber.
In each matches, she needed to claw again deficits whereas in opposition to Navarro she even discovered her status underneath assault when the American described her as “cut-throat” with “no respect”.
Nevertheless, her run to the ultimate created one fan within the form of Novak Djokovic.
“She’s a terrific individual. I actually like her lots,” stated the Serbian star on the eve of the gold medal match.
“(Attending to the ultimate) is a large deal for China, for her, but additionally for our sport. China is such an enormous nation, an enormous market, they usually’ve been ready for an enormous champion and an enormous identify since Li Na.”
Australia’s Matthew Ebden and John Friends received the lads’s doubles gold with an exhilarating victory over Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the USA.
The unseeded pair got here again from a set and break right down to win 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/1), 10-8 in opposition to their fourth-seeded opponents.
It was Australia’s second Olympic males’s doubles title after Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde triumphed in Atlanta in 1996.
For Friends, it was a second Video games medal to go together with the bronze he claimed alongside Ashleigh Barty within the combined doubles in Tokyo three years in the past.