Two points from defeat, Machac & Siniakova rally to take mixed doubles gold

Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova rallied from the brink of defeat to claim the mixed doubles gold medal for Czechia at the Paris Olympics.

The Czechs trailed Chinese duo Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen 6/8 in a dramatic match tie-break but after clawing back to 8-all, welcomed a double fault from Zhang that set up match point. The former off-court couple sealed gold when Machac's fierce service return drew a volleying error from Wang, who earlier in the set had made a number of clutch poach volleys for winners.

Both playing mixed doubles at the Olympics for the first time, Machac and Siniakova became the first Czechia team to win the mixed doubles gold with their 6-2, 5-7, 10-8 victory.

Siniakova collected her second gold medal, having won the women's doubles gold in Tokyo with Barbora Krejcikova.

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski on their way to collecting mixed doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski won the mixed doubles bronze medal with a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs Friday.

The Canadian pair looked headed for a comfortable win after leading 6-3, 3-0, before Koolhof and Schuurs rallied to extended the second set to a tie-break. But the Canadians steadied to become the second players from their nation to win an Olympic medal following the gold medal success of Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor in Sydney in 2000.

Auger-Aliassime, who earlier in the day lost his singles semi-final to Carlos Alcaraz, No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings, will have a shot at a second bronze medal when he plays the loser of tonight’s Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti semi-final.