Romanian tennis players Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau lost the final of the men’s doubles tennis competition at the Rio Olympics on August 12. They were defeated by Spanish duo Rafael Nadal/Marc Lopez after a very disputed game of more than two hours.

Nadal and Lopez won the first set 6-2, but the Romanians came back in the second set, which they won 6-3. The match went into the decisive set and it was very tight as each side had its good moments. Mergea and Tecau were the first to make the break and had the chance to close the match in their favor, but the Spaniards fought back hard and got the edge. The set ended 6-4 for Nadal and Lopez who got the gold medal. Nadal also won the gold medal in men’s singles at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau had to settle with the silver medal, which is also a great performance, as this is the first Olympic medal for Romanian tennis ever.

This is also the third medal for Romania at the Rio Olympics after the gold medal won by the women's epee team on Thursday and a bronze medal won by Gabriel Sincraian in weightlifting (85kg category).

Romania thus moved up to 23rd in the overall medal ranking.

Romanian tennis players Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau reach final at Rio Olympics

editor@romania-insider.com