The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, August 17) -- Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated Swedish veterans Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the final to win the gold medal in the Men's Doubles at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on Saturday, August 16.
The victory handed Switzerland its second Olympic medal in Tennis after Marc Rosset won the Men's Singles gold at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. It was a particularly sweet moment for World No. 1 Roger Federer, whose dreams of winning gold in the Men's Singles were crushed by No. 8 seed James Blake of the United States in the quarterfinals.
"We don't have the medal yet but it's fabulous," said an emotional Federer, while still on the court awaiting the medal ceremony. "A magical moment. Something incredible in my career, especially as we were both a bit down after losing in Singles. It's incredible that we managed to stay on track to win in Doubles."
The 30-somethings Aspelin and Johansson were bidding to give Sweden its first ever Olympic gold medal in Tennis, but ended up with earning their country's second silver Doubles medal instead. Carl Kempe and Gunnar Setterwall were the first Swedish pair to win silver in Doubles, at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games.
The combination of two top 10 Singles players was Switzerland's key to victory. Federer and Wawrinka stole the first two sets by virtue of their impeccable serving, breaking in the fourth game of the first set and third game of the second set to gain a two-set lead after 71 minutes.
After losing a tight tiebreaker to Aspelin and Johansson, in which the Swedes took their only break point of nine on offer during the match, the Swiss No. 4 seeds ran to a 4-1 lead in the deciding set, eventually sealing the gold medal when Johansson sent a forehand wide.
The new Men's Doubles gold medalists fought back tears during the ceremony as they stood alongside silver medalists Aspelin and Johansson and bronze medal winners Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States. The six medalists did a lap of honor in front of a standing ovation on Center Court.
