Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Mixed Doubles – Gold medal match – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – August 1, 2021. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee react during their gold medal match against Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev of the Russian Olympic Committee REUTERS/Mike Segar
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Mixed Doubles – Gold medal match – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – August 1, 2021. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee react during their gold medal match against Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev of the Russian Olympic Committee REUTERS/Mike Segar
The final match of tennis at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, was an all-Russian battle. Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova took on Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev. It was Andrey and Anastasia who won the match 6-3 6-7(5) 13-11.
Set 1: Andrey Rublev and company too strong
Watch What’s Trending Now!
As the match began, both teams held their opening service games. However, it was the pair of Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who were broken first.
They bounced back quickly and broke Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina in the very next game. They were clearly applying the pressure and broke them again in consecutive games.
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Mixed Doubles – Gold medal match – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – August 1, 2021. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee react during their gold medal match against Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev of the Russian Olympic Committee REUTERS/Edgar Su
They were sitting on a healthy 5-2 lead and within a few moments they served it out for the set, winning 6-3 in 35 minutes. During the set, Elena and Aslan registered many unforced errors that did the damage.
Set 2: Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina arrive late
In the following set, both teams were playing clinical and were leaving no room for error. At one point it felt difficult to sense any weaknesses in either of their service games.
Eventually, the set had to be decided in a tiebreaker. Once the tiebreaker began, the pair of Karatsev and Vesnina seemed superior as they raced to a 4-1 lead. In the end, they won the set 7-6(5) in 59 minutes.
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Mixed Doubles – Gold medal match – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – August 1, 2021. Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev of the Russian Olympic Committee react during their gold medal match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee REUTERS/Edgar Su
Set 3 Tiebreaker: Down the wire
The final set is a tiebreaker. In this final stage, it was a rollercoaster ride. In the end, Andrey and Anastasia won the tiebreaker 13-11.
With the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics, we now shift focus to the tournaments on the ATP circuit. With the US Open Swing in mind, we look forward to seeing the athletes competing at the highest levels.
Watch this story: How Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, and Others Travel
Some finish to the all-Russian Olympic Committee mixed doubles final. Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova save match point to claim gold in a dramatic match tiebreak.
— George Bellshaw (@BellshawGeorge) August 1, 2021
They beat compatriots Aslan Karatsev and birthday girl Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 14-11.
