Félix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski can be bringing an Olympic medal again to Canada.
The Canadian blended doubles pair claimed the bronze medal on Friday on the 2024 Summer season Olympics in Paris, defeating the Dutch pair of Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs in straight units. It’s simply the second Olympic tennis medal in Canadian historical past.
On high of the victory being Canada’s first blended doubles medal on the Olympics, Dabrowski turns into the primary Canadian lady to win a tennis medal on the Video games. Canada’s solely different Olympic medal was a gold in males’s doubles, received by Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor on the 2000 Video games in Sydney.
Other than a spell halfway by means of the second set, the Canadian pair dominated the match, counting on Auger-Aliassime’s energy and Dabrowski’s craftiness to assert a 6-3, 7-6(2) win and land on the rostrum.
The margins have been razor skinny within the opening set, however the Canadians have been in a position to seize on the one break level for both pair. At 2-1, Schuurs double faulted to offer the Canadians a break level and Dabrowski transformed, utilizing a intelligent slice forehand to arrange a smash winner.
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Dabrowski confronted stress on her serve at 4-1, battling by means of a few deuces however managed to carry with out going through a break level. When it got here time to shut out the set at 5-3, Auger-Aliassime slammed the door with a maintain to like.
Every thing was going the Canadians method on the time as, within the first sport of the second set, they went forward love-40 on Koolhof’s serve and Dabrowski’s floating return took a nasty kick which the Dutchman couldn’t deal with, dumping a forehand into the web to give up the break.
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When the Dutch pair received a degree on their very own serve for 0-2, 15-all, it ended a 13-point streak for the Canadians relationship again to the ultimate sport of the primary set. Nonetheless, they received a pair of break factors at 15-40 and Auger-Aliassime overpowered Schuurs along with his heavy forehand in a baseline trade to make it a double break lead.
Nonetheless, they did not consolidate the second break. For the primary time within the match, the Canadians discovered themselves down break level on Dabrowski’s serve and Schuurs ripped a clear return winner to reclaim one.
All of a sudden, the momentum was firmly with the Dutch. Once more on Dabrowski’s serve at 4-3, a Koolhof return floated in to arrange a break level and he timed a poach completely to stage the set at 4-4.
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If the Canadians have been nervous at seeing their large lead slip away, they didn’t let it have an effect on their play when the stress hit its peak within the tiebreak. Auger-Aliassime asserted himself early within the breaker, utilizing some large hitting to assert a minibreak on the primary level after which profitable each on his personal serve to place Canada forward 3-0.
That turned out to be greater than sufficient because the Dutch solely mustered two factors within the breaker. From 5-2, it was Dabrowski’s flip to take over, timing an assault off a return completely to arrange quadruple match level the place she whipped out a spectacular volley to seal the win for Canada.
Auger-Aliassime has an opportunity to return residence with one other bronze medal as he’ll play within the third-place match in males’s singles on Saturday.
