In the last eight Rafael Nadal will take on Thomaz Bellucci, who will surley get plenty of home crowd support at the Rio Olympics.
Date: August 12, 2016
Match time: Rafa is second on Center Court. Not before 1 PM local time / 12 noon EDT – New York, Montreal / 4 PM BST – United Kingdom / 5 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / August 13 – Friday, 2 AM AEST – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
UPDATED: Not for the first time this week, rain has disrupted the schedule at the Olympic Tennis Centre, so Rafa vs Simon will now begin around 2.30 PM local time.
Thomaz on playing Rafa:
It’s going to be a very tough match. Rafa, of course, is the favourite. He’s a great player and has been performing great at the Olympic Games. He’s won three tough matches with some ease.
This marks the sixth time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Rafa holding an undefeated 5-0 head to head record against the Brazilian. Here are the matches they have played against each other:
| YEAR | EVENT | SURFACE | RND | WINNER | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Wimbledon Great Britain |
Outdoor Grass | R128 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
Outdoor Clay | R32 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2012 | Wimbledon Great Britain |
Outdoor Grass | R128 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2010 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | R16 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2008 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | R128 | Rafael Nadal |
Rafa is trying to become the first player to win gold in singles twice. Also attempting to achieve that: Andy Murray, the defending Olympic champion.
By reaching the doubles final at Rio 2016, Rafa now has the chance to become the fourth player in the modern era of tennis in the Olympics (since Seoul 1988) to own gold medals from both the singles and doubles events. Venus Williams, Serena Willams and Nicolas Massu are the players to have already achieved this, with Massu doing so in one Games, at Athens 2004.
MEN’S DOUBLES FINAL: Rafa/Marc Lopez vs Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau – fourth match on Center Court.
Rafa and Marc will also bid to secure Spain’s best-ever result in Olympic men’s doubles, as they seek to improve on the silver medal won by Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez 28 years ago in Seoul.
VAMOS RAFA!
VAMOS RAFA & MARC!
Vamos rafa
Yeeeessssssssss. 😍😍😍😍😍😍
Can’t bear to watch the match , that’s not sounding good for his doubles match if he has something wrong with his foot
I see Rafa face grimacing, he just got his foot taped. This Rio crowd is so Disrespectful; booing Rafa like that. Going to take my 2nd valium!
Yes, disrespectful.
The crowd did the same to Dustin Brown vs DelPotro earlier in the week. DelPotro attributed it to the South Americans just being louder. Bellucci is Brazilian so his home crowd is going to give any opponent a hard time.
Leave the Valiums alone so you can enjoy the win.
You see, he won. He got his groove back.
CONGRATS RAFA
This is more than being loud. Cheering service faults and UE is not being loud. They either lack tennis courtesy or maybe not a tennis crowd but just jingoistic nationalism. Maybe we should not make a big deal out of it. Happens in Davis cup sometimes. But yes it does not sit well when it is someone so genuine and sweet like Rafa at the receiving end. Anyway.. he won :).. so all is well.
Of course it was more than being just loud but I interpreted DelPotro’s response as a diplomatic one. He couldn’t have said something negative in public otherwise the media would have had a field day. Rafa boasted about receiving the most support from his Latin American fans: let’s see if he changes his tune.
Phew! for now. Come on Rafa remember who you are .🇪🇸😘
All the best of luck Rafa sweetheart ❤️🍀😘
VAMOS champ 😍👑
You can do it 🎾💪😃
S Johnson was eliminated in singles by Andy, today….so if Rafa beats Belluci, Rafa will be the last guy standing in both singles and doubles.
Andy is the only one in both singles and mixed.
RAFA PLEASE get your groove on vs Belluci
Can’t watch the match but I am following the score line . What’s going on ? Why has Rafa lost the first set by such a big margin , is he having trouble with his wrist?
Have a great match Rafa , keeping my fingers crossed I’m not ready to see you go home just yet , I’m hoping you have a quick and easy match so you can recover in time for your doubles final . Your going to need all your strength to hold that gold medal. The singles is yours for the taking if it’s a Murray /Rafa final. Murray is struggling big time and you have it in the bag
VAMOS RAFA…Go for Gold…I’m a nervous reck!!!
Congrats on your play; enjoy and continue to fight! Great to see your celebration
after each win! Vamos! 🎾😎👊💪👍🌞🇪🇸♥️
We will all be keeping our eyes on the prize for you! Good Luck!!!
De tout cœur derrière rafa pour ce match contre bellucci👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Good luck Rafa. Going for gold what an achievement. You truly are the greatest. I love watching you play and have done since you were 15. Good luck also to you and Marc in the doubles. With you all the way always. ❤️❤️👏👏👍👍
Good luck Rafa. We are all with you <3
Vamos Rafa. Hope you and Mark get the Gold, you teally deserve it.
VAMOS, RAFA!!!! SI, ESPERO VERTE GANANDO LA COPA DORADA!!! VAMOS!!! Y MUCHA SUERTE PARA TI Y MARC EN LOS DOBLES!!!
Vamossssss Rafaaaaaa y Marc si se puede… Con todo!!! Suerte 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼🎾🎾🎾🎾
When I heard that Rafa had pulled out of mixed I thought the worst. So very happy he is playing tomorrow.
I wonder why Rafa is not first on CC tomorrow? Maybe they want a bigger Brazilian crowd?
I think it is better for him to have more time to rest. It’s not so easy as it maybe looks to play every day two matches. I’m sure the organizers will have in mind his condition after his match vs Bellucci and give him enough time to rest. After all, he’s playing in the doubles final and everyone is looking forward to see an amazing match. Vamos Rafa & Marc!
This is the Olympics after all, and the governing bodies had to have put a lot of thought into scheduling so that the best players would prevail to the finals.
Rafa is not the only one who is playing singles and doubles. Hats off to all who are still alive in both competitions.
DelPotro wondered who had made up his schedule, after one of his wins this week. Depending upon how long a match is, players are guaranteed a minimum amount of rest time between matches. There was also a rain day when matches were canceled; a day when players otherwise would have been required to play. They had a full day off. I was pretty happy that Mother Nature intervened.
If Rafa medals in both competitions, he will be a tennis UBER OLYMPIAN.
RAFA IT’S ALMOST OVER SO KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZES!!!!!