The Romanian doubles team writes history for Romanian tennis after they reach their first Olympic final, reaching the highest stage possible after they dominated the semifinal from the tactic point of view. The whole match flew in one direction with Florin Mergea and Horia Tecău always in control of the points and playing extremely well on the return. It was a circular match as it started with a break and ended with a break in the eleventh game. The Romanians went on to serve for the match and never looked back.
A first set where the Romanians early break was all they needed
Both teams came into this match hoping to book a place into the final and bring a medal home. Although the American team is a strong one, Mergea and Tecău had a better chance as they have played longer together and they communicate better. Tecau is very strong on the serve, good on the net and at making interceptions and Mergea has strong baseline play, often coming with sparkling shots.
That is everything you want from a doubles team, and both Romanians worked hard to get there as a team as they sacrificed most of the current season with their usual partner just to be able to get in Rio in the best form possible. They've made clear the fact that they came to Rio for the gold, and never hide the fact that they will do anything to achieve that.
Today was just one more moment where we saw that burning desire of becoming Olympic champions. After breaking early in the set at their first try, the Romanian's mission of just holding their serve was not in one moment put in danger by the Americans. They even had two set points on Sock's serve in the eighth game, both saved by a great serve from the American.
A tighter second set
In the second set, both teams went head to head thanks to their serves until the last moment of the match. No team had a break point, as the Americans had a better performance on their serve. Every game flew easily for each team, but at 5-4 Jack Sock and Steve Johnson stumbled a little bit as Mergea was all over the place trying to force a break. which eventually came two games later.
Both Romanian players looked to be more connected on the stake, obviously, the American team was formed ad hoc, so the compatibility between the two was not at its best. Tecău and Mergea had the ability to cover the court and close angles, which gave the Americans no chance to take their shots at a break. Each space on the court was well covered, Tecău's serve had the highest winning percentage and Mergea's cross-court forehand was on point in today's match.
In the final, Mergea and Tecău will meet the sixth seed Spaniards Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal who beat the Canadian team Nestor/Pospisil 7-6(1), 7-6(4).