After having few results now I have feeling mostly players were here just for show up because their performance was not as they needed to give and having good chance of winning medals for their countries.
No way - players are here in search of Olympic Gold. This is one of Tennis' top
accolades just like winning a grand slam. We had this point made already on this
page.
Quarter finals today in the womens side. Kerber has found great form to beat
Paolini yesterday but faces a tough opponent in Zheng. I believe Kerber
is finding results because this is her last season before retirement and
so is playing with a degree of freedom and a slightly different mindset.
Unfortunately, Angelique lost today against Zhang. The match was super exciting, but Kerber looked a bit tired, which is not surprising as German veteran had a tough match against Paolini as you mentioned. At some point, the match started to resemble U12 junior tennis with almost exclusively lob shots. Unfortunately, these attempts to conserve energy failed as Kerber lost the 3rd set on a tie break.
Another amazing match was Alcaraz/Rafa vs US doubles specialist duo Ram/Krajicek. Unfortunately, the Olympic dream has ended for Rafa: their team lost 2:6, 4:6. The opponents were showing typical doubles play with great serves and frequent net takeovers.
Thats a pity for Rafa, Olympic Gold is gone with the defeat to those specialist doubles
with vast experience both as doubles and doubles partners.
Zheng did well to beat in form Kerber but Zheng is herself in form coming into
this tournament.
She has taken the first set against Swiatak and its on serve in the second set.
She looked a bit troubled in the first set but like all No.1's first set loss doesnt
spell the end. Still heavy favourite @ 1.36
