Chinese tennis duo Zhang Zhizhen and Wang Xinyu etched their names in history on Saturday after clinching a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in a thrilling mixed doubles final, with fellow professionals and fans back in Shanghai cheering them on during a tense watch party.
The tennis aces lost a nailbiter 6-2, 5-7, 10-8 to the Czech Republic's Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova.
"Despite some regrets about the result, it is China's first silver medal in the tennis mixed doubles event, of which we are very proud and excited. Through the matches Zhang participated in this year, we can see his continuous transformation. After efforts from several generations of tennis professionals in Shanghai, their adherence to the professional code of the sport, and with the full support of the Shanghai Sports Bureau, I believe younger Chinese tennis players will bring us greater results in the future," said Li Yao, vice president and secretary-general of the Shanghai Tennis Association and also manager of the Shanghai Jiushi tennis team, from Shanghai.
The final started at lightning pace, with neither pair dropping many points on their service game, with both staring down each other's fluid attacking game.
However, it was China who blinked first as the Chinese duo were broken twice on the serve, taking them only 23 minutes to lose the set.
Despite the disappointing opening act for China, the pair's spirits remained high. They achieved a key break in the final game of the second set, bringing the match to a third set tiebreak.
Taking a 3-0 lead in the third set, the Chinese pair couldn't hold the advantage to the end, and finally lost the set to the Czech duo, capturing the silver medal.
In the earlier bronze medal mixed doubles match, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada defeated Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands in straight sets 6-3, 7-6.
Shanghai rallies behind medal-winning mixed doubles tennis team
Shanghai rallies behind medal-winning mixed doubles tennis team
Shanghai rallies behind medal-winning mixed doubles tennis team
