2 Responses to olymp1996paes_meligeni

1. Voo de Mar says:

   August 6, 2024 at 3:25 pm

   Points won by each set: | 20-25, 25-16, 31-29 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   28 % Paes – 23 of 82
   23 % Meligeni – 15 of 64

   # The first Bronze medal match of the Open Era, and the most unexpected pair of players who fought for it thus far. Both Paes [126] and Meligeni [93] were ranked too low to play without qualifying rounds in big hardcourt events of the same structure (64-draw) held soon afterwards, I mean Cincinnati and the Canadian Open, but their participation in the 3rd place match was well deserved as they both had eliminated players who achieved much more in their careers: Paes [126] stunned Enqvist while Meligeni [93] ousted A.Costa and Philippoussis i.a… The first two sets were super quick, concluded under an hour without a deuce. In the decider Paes led 2:0, but the Brazilian took a 3:2* lead. The 23-year-old Paes was attacking the net constantly behind the serve and as a receiver throughout the match, and it paid off – he became the first Indian athlete to get an individual medal at the Summer Games in 44 years (wrestler K.D. Jadhav got bronze in Helsinki ’52)! “I got into what we athletes call ‘the zone’ where you don’t really remember what happened for that 45-minute period.” said Paes about the period between the end of the 2nd set and the second match point which he won forcing a lob error before raising his both arms in the air. At the time it could be expected neither of them would play a more important match in their careers, but Meligeni advanced to the French Open semifinal three years later; for Paes it remained the event of his life as far as singles is concerned (in very long doubles career he managed to win eight Slams between 1999 and 2013, becoming the best player in the world three years after his shocking singles success in Atlanta).

   [IND] Paes’ route to the Bronze medal:
   1 Richey Reneberg [USA] 6-7(2), 7-6(7), 1-0 ret.
   2 Nicolas Pereira [VEN] 6-2, 6-3
   3 Thomas Enqvist [SWE] 7-5, 7-6(3)
   Q Renzo Furlan [ITA] 6-1, 7-5
   S Andre Agassi [USA] 6-7(5), 3-6
   3rd place: Fernando Meligeni [BRA] 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

   * Paes drew Sampras in the first round, but the best player in the world withdrew due to Achilles injury

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   August 6, 2024 at 3:44 pm

   Bronze medal matches at the Olympics:

   Atlanta 1996 (hard): Paes d. Meligeni 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
   Sydney 2000 (hard): Di Pasquale d. Federer 7-6, 6-7, 6-3
   Athens 2004 (hard): Gonzalez d. Dent 6-4, 2-6, 16-14
   Beijing 2008 (hard): Djokovic d. Blake 6-3, 7-6
   London 2012 (grass): Del Potro d. Djokovic 7-5, 6-4
   Rio 2016 (hard): Nishikori d. Nadal 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
   Tokyo 2021 (hard): Carreno d. Djokovic 6-4, 6-7, 6-3
   Paris 2024 (clay-indoors): Musetti d. Auger 6-4, 1-6, 6-3

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