By Alberto Amalfi | Sunday, August 14, 2016
An all-American final escalated into the final tie break.
Down 3-6 in the breaker, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock delivered a red, white and bruising comeback.
Watch: Live Olympic Tennis Blog
Mattek-Sands and Sock won seven of the last eight points defeating Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 10-7, to win the Olympic mixed doubles gold medal.
An emotional Mattek-Sands was teary-eye in the afterglow and on the podium.
"I'm still pretty emotional," Mattek-Sands told Bravo Network's Trenni Kusnierek. "I think going into this final we knew the American national anthem was gonna be played either way. What a moment. My first Olympics, first time being up on the podium words cannot describe it. I'm so excited playing next to this guy. We played awesome all week."
They join an exclusive club. Mattek-Sands and Sock have each won a Grand Slam doubles title, Grand Slam mixed doubles crown and Olympic gold medal.
Sock, who was plagued by walking pneumonia in his first-round singles loss to 118th-ranked Taro Daniel, bounced back in a big way and will leave Rio with two medals. He partnered Steve Johnson to win the doubles bronze medal on Friday.
"After my first round singles I didn't know how this week was gonna go," Sock said. "And to enjoy the experience, get the most out of it and to come out with two medals, one being gold, is amazing. I had a blast with Bethanie. She carried me all week. We will share this for life together."
Sixteen years after she swept gold in singles and doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 36-year-old Williams was exactly four points away from becoming the first tennis player to win five gold medals.
Mattek-Sands and Sock answered with a spirited run of six straight points and all four players shared space on the podium.
"It's been an honor to play in so many Olympics," Williams said. "We had a blast this whole tournament. It was awesome to see two U.S. teams on the podium. We're just on cloud nine today."
The first all-American Olympic tennis final in the modern era was a tight test from the start.
Ram poked a lunging forehand volley long as Mattek-Sands and Sock broke Williams' serve for 2-1.
Sock spun a pair of forehands helping Mattek-Sands hold to force the tie break.
An elastic reach and prescient poaching helped Ram take charge in the tie breaker. Ram knocked off a high forehand volley for a 4-3 lead in the breaker.
Stabbing back a stretch volley off a Mattek-Sands swing volley, Ram extended the point then Sock put a forehand into the top of the tape for 5-3. Two points later, Williams slashed a shot to the Sock weaker backhand wing, Ram cut off the middle and angled off a backhand volley to end the set.
It was the first time Mattek-Sands and Sock dropped a set in the tournament.
Eager to get even, the younger Americans broke Ram when Williams badly bungled a smash. Mattek-Sands saved a pair of break points holding to back up the break for 3-0.
Bursting out to a 5-0 lead, Mattek-Sands and Sock breezed through the 36-minute second set to force the 10-point tie break for gold.
Each team took turns dictating in a topsy-turvy tiebreak.
Sock slid a serve down the middle for 3-0. Ram and Williams responded winning six consecutive points for 6-3.
That's when Sock stepped up. A stinging body serve and booming forehand from Sock showed his power; he froze Ram with finesse flicking a perfect forehand topspin lob winner for 6-all.
A rattled Ram double faulted into the tape. Sock stuck a backhand volley and Mattek-Sands somehow fended off a backhand self-preservation volley for three gold medal points at 9-6.
Attacking net behind a lob, Mattek-Sands and Sock closed a one hour, 45-minute triumph when Williams' backhand expired in net.