Home » Rafael Nadal wins the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

At Roland Garros in 2005, Rafael Nadal won his first Major championship, and shortly thereafter, he rose to No. 2 in the world. Rafa kept improving, and by 2008, he was a candidate for the world no. 1 spot. In that year, Nadal won championships in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Hamburg, and Roland Garros and drew nearer to Roger Federer.

Rafa won Queen’s and Wimbledon after working on his grass-court technique, extending his winning streak to 32 matches, but Novak Djokovic stopped him in the Cincinnati semifinals. On August 18, Nadal surpassed Federer and rose to the position of world number.

for the initial time. Prior to that, the Spaniard was one of the favorites to win the men’s singles gold medal when he arrived in Beijing. In that historic season, he once more played his best tennis to win a crucial championship. After more than two hours, Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in the semi-final in three hard-fought sets, and he then faced Fernando Gonzalez in the gold-medal match.

Rafa defeated the Chilean 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to win the Olympic gold after two hours and 23 minutes. With victories in 38 of his final 39 matches, Nadal finished his amazing run over the previous few months and earned the top spot in the world.

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Rafael Nadal won the gold medal in Beijing 2008 by defeating Fernando Gonzalez in three sets.

Nadal kept his games intact by providing solid service and fending off all four break points. Gonzalez was tested to the breaking point by him on the second serve, and he generated ten break chances, completing two of them to win in straight sets.

With scorching forehands, the Chilean tried his best to retain the points on his racquet and keep things moving. However, the adversary’s strong defense and lack of unforced errors rendered it ineffective. On hard courts, Fernando defeated Rafa in their previous two meetings, including a noteworthy victory in the 2007 Australian Open.

Even yet, he was unable to reproduce it while playing an opponent in good form who displayed his best tennis. With eight of the first ten points in game one and a break in game two after Fernando’s slice backhand landed long, Nadal got the match off to a strong start.

In game eight, Gonzalez saved a set point with a superb forehand winner before Rafa wrapped up the victory with a forehand winner down the line to make the score 6-3. On serve, Nadal had no issues at all, deflecting the Chilean’s forehands like no other player could and taking the most effective tool out of his hands.

In the second set, both players easily handled their service games, and they were about to enter the tie break until Nadal encountered his first errant service game at 5-6. With two set points at stake, Gonzalez smashed a forehand winner to take a 40-15 lead.

However, the Chilean whiffed on an easy forehand on the second point and a backhand volley on the first, which decided the match for him. In order to generate momentum going into the tie break, Rafa won the game with a forehand down the line, and after Fernando’s forehand went long, Rafa had secured a 7-2 victory.

In the second game of the third set, Gonzalez held off two break attempts to prevent a setback, but Nadal eventually broke him at love to take a 3-1 lead with a backhand crosscourt winner. Gonzalez had no control over the situation at that point because it was a one-man show.

In game six, he faced two additional break points but turned them away to cut the deficit. After creating a few opportunities in the following game, the Chilean unexpectedly had the chance to win the break back. With a forehand and successful serves, Rafa fended them off. He then won the game 5-2 with two more direct points.

In game eight, Fernando saved three match points on his serve to prolong the contest. To begin a raucous celebration of one of his most prized victories, Nadal forced his rival’s error as he crossed the finish line with another strong hold at 5-3.