The Olympic spirit burns brightly in gold medalists Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal.
The pair spent time practicing together in Mallorca before the Rio Games and reaped the rewards: Murray became the first player to successfully defend a singles gold and Nadal partnered Marc Lopez to capture the doubles gold.
Watch: Murray's Gold Standard
Both men carried the flag for their respective nations at the Rio opening ceremoney and both are adamant tennis should remain an Olympic sport.
"I really hope tennis stays being part of the Olympics," Murray told the media in Cincinnati. "I mean, every Olympics I've been to I've absolutely loved it. Beijing obviously didn't go as well on the court as I would've liked, but I had an amazing experience there as well.
"I think like when you look at the crowds and stuff, you know, for the semis and the finals, the atmospheres were incredible, you know. Rafa's match with Del Potro, and I think the final at times the tennis wasn't great, but I think the passion and effort that both of us gave in the final shows how much it meant to both of us."
Two-time gold medal champion Nadal, who contested singles and doubles and withdrew from his planned mixed doubles partnership with Garbine Muguruza, said he values the Games nearly as much as the majors.
"Tennis today is a very important part of the Olympic Games. I don't understand why we should not be in the Olympic Games," Nadal told the media in Cincinnati. "I think Olympics is the closer thing in my opinion to a Grand Slam for a tennis player.
"I think for the Olympic Games is important to have the tennis, and for the sport of tennis is very important to be in the Olympics. So that's it."
The 14-time Grand Slam champion also advocates spreading the Olympic tennis tournament out over more days to give players competing in multiple disciplines to recover.
"Then another thing is I think to have a competition like the tennis in the Olympics, having three different competitions, mixed, singles, and doubles," Nadal said. "I think we need to have better people preparing the schedule. We need to have few more days of competition on the Olympic Games. Now it's not enough."
Photo credit: ITF Olympic Tennis