PETE ZIEBRON
A couple of weeks after the conclusion of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, the tennis world shifted to the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. With the Rio Games beginning soon, Tennis Acumen reviews what several of the medalists had to say in Cincinnati about their 2012 performances and experiences:
Venus Williams, Gold Medal in Doubles on whether she was planning to play four years later in Rio:
"Absolutely. I love the Olympics. The last day when it was over, I'm like, I can't wait until Rio. It's no secret how you feel about the Olympics. I'm very excited about Rio."
Juan Martin del Potro, Bronze Medal in Singles on how he was able to rebound from his semifinal loss to Roger Federer and defeat Novak Djokovic to win the Bronze:
"Yeah, I don't know how I did that. (Smiling.) I was really, really sad after loss against Roger, but my parents, friends, and my team helped me a lot to open my eyes, you know, and to fight in the last match against Djokovic. I really feel the support from my country. All the people was behind me and help me to get the energy to best I can against Djokovic."
Maria Kirilenko, Bronze Medal in Doubles on how she celebrated:
"I was so excited to get the Olympic medal, and I had just couple days for recovery and I had to fly back here....I went the same day back to Moscow. Next days I went out couple times and we celebrated. It was a lot of people, you know, trying (on) my medal. It was pretty exciting."
Roger Federer, Silver Medal in Singles, on dropping the Gold Medal Match:
"It's one of those matches you try to move on from....I accepted quickly that Murray was better on the day. That was it. I wasn't going to let it ruin my Olympics campaign just because I didn't win gold. I still thought silver was a great result for me. That's how I felt when I got back."
Serena Williams, Gold Medals in Singles & Doubles on winning Gold twice:
"It was really awesome to win both medals at the Olympics. I really wanted to win doubles. I know everyone was like, You haven't won the singles gold, and that's the only thing big career‑wise move that you haven't won. I was like trying to put that out of my mind.
I went there really with doubles on my mind, so singles was the ultimate goal for me."
Andy Murray, Gold Medal in Singles & Silver Medal in Doubles on winning Gold and where he put his medals:
"Well, it was obviously a great moment, biggest win of my career for sure....I think the Wimbledon final and the Wimbledon tournament beforehand gave me extra confidence because I went into the final a lot calmer for the gold medal match, a lot calmer than I went into the Wimbledon final...The medals, they were on top of a cabinet. I spoke to my girlfriend today and asked what she'd done with them. She said she left them there. So I'll try and get them in a better place when I get back."
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