Rio de Janeiro: Rafael Nadal won his second Olympic gold medal Friday when he and longtime friend Marc Lopez defeated Romania`s Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau 6-2, 3-6, 4-6 in the men`s doubles final.
Nadal, the 2008 singles champion in Beijing, is just the fourth player to win gold in singles and doubles after Serena and Venus Williams and Chile`s Nicolas Massu.
The 30-year-old is still in contention for the singles title in Rio having earlier defeated Brazil`s Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals. That was his 800th career singles win.
The Spaniard will go on to face Juan Martín Del Potro of Argentina in Saturday`s semi-finals.
For 34-year-old Lopez, it was a second impressive title of 2016 after he partnered compatriot Feliciano Lopez to the French Open title in June.
