Historic podium. Eleven years have passed since the memorable day for world tennis. August 5, 2012 in London, at La Catedral, on the legendary lawn of Wimbledon, Scotsman Andy Murray became the champion of the Olympic Games, having won a gold medal, and Swiss Roger Federer won silver, and Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro. received bronze.
In addition to the special purpose of the Olympic competition, the situation gave tennis a plus. The only time Wimbledon, the Grand Slam in London, were dressed to host the Olympics, and the podium was special for a variety of reasons. In less than a month, Murray avenged his loss to Federer in the final of that Grand Slam tournament, and only the next year was able to break the Brit’s historic drought in his career. main, 77 years old.
In the Grand Slam final, the Swiss beat the Scot in four sets after defeating Serb Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and thus took the top spot from him. But the Olympic fight followed immediately after and there was sweet revenge for Murray in front of his men as he beat him in three sets without a problem, also taking advantage of Federer having just fought Del Potro very hard in the Marathon Semi-Finals decided on the score. 19-17 in the third set.
Murray was the Serb’s executioner in the semi-finals and enjoyed himself as much against Federer as he did at Wimbledon. the second home of the Swiss, the title holder of the record. The audience was delighted with the British, they supported a lot from the stands, despite the colossal fanaticism that exists in relation to the Swiss, who dreamed of becoming an individual gold medal in Olympic competitions for the first time.
Bye, Del Potro became the first Argentine tennis player to reach the podium of the Olympic Games in men’s singles. The player from Tandil beat Djokovic in straight sets and achieved a milestone that he even improved four years later when he repeated the victory over the Serb, but already in the debut, only to beat Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals and lose to Murray. in the final of Rio de Janeiro 2016.
For the same reason, London 2012 will remain in the memory of Albicelesta fans. And it was bittersweet for Djokovic, who couldn’t finish third. Del Potro’s triumph was unexpected, to the extent that Federer, having lost in the final, was waiting for the Serb to climb the podium, and was surprised to ask the Argentine if he could beat the Belgrade.
Eleven years after that day, the memories are still so strong for some of the main characters and millions of fans.