Chilean Nicolas Massu claimed two gold medals inside 24 hours by defeating American Mardy Fish 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the singles final of the Olympic Tennis Event in Athens on Sunday. Massu played 10 sets in 24 hours to claim double gold, winning the doubles gold medal with Fernando Gonzalez in the wee hours of Sunday morning before recovering to beat Fish shortly before midnight after a four-hour battle.
Massu carried a lamentable 0-7 singles record on hard courts in 2004 into the Olympics. But he summoned the performance of a lifetime in both singles and doubles, winning 11 straight matches over a total of 24 hours, 43 minutes of play to emerge as a double gold medalist. The doubles victory with Gonzalez was Chile’s first Olympic gold medal ever. That match finished 2.40 a.m. on Sunday morning. It was 6.30 a.m. before Massu got to sleep. The singles final began just 13 hours later at 7.30 p.m. local time.
Massu described his heroics as “the best two days of my life.”
