ITF

193 LONDON 2012 MEN'S SINGLES BRONZE I remember it almost every day of my life because it has been one of the most beautiful sensations in my career. It was a big moment of great joy for me because of the way I beat [Novak] Djokovic that day. I remember I fell on my knees and I started crying because I had a great emotional pressure on me from the beginning of my semifinal against [Roger] Federer and the fact that I lost that match. So the memories I have after my win over Djokovic are one of the best things an athlete can achieve, and even more exciting because of beating Djokovic in that way. What makes it all different is knowing that you are representing your country and there are a lot of players fighting for one of the medals, doesn't matter which one. The only thing that counts is to be able to be on the podium. I remember that in London, Argentina had not won any medal until that moment. So I gave my country the first one. I had no previous Olympic experience so it was like a dream winning a medal there. After losing to Federer, it was really hard. I was physically exhausted and really bad emotionally. My whole body was tired. Taking everything into account, it was the worst scenario because I had played a great match against Federer, a semifinal that will be part of Olympic history [going to 19-17 in the third set] and just hours later I was in front of Djokovic. He was not an easy player for me and that fast recuperation was the most difficult thing I did. I had a big welcome home. There were people at the airport and I had the medal around my neck to show it to everybody. I was really conscious of the size of that medal and I felt proud of having it on my chest. I wanted to show it to everyone in Ezeiza [Buenos Aires airport] and also in my city because all of them had encouraged me to recover between one match and the other. It is one of my best achievements. It is something that will stay forever. I only took part in one edition of the Olympic Games and I won a medal. There are a lot of tennis players that spend their lives fighting for it and they never get it. So I'm lucky to get it on the first occasion I had, and this is much more than I could have imagined. Maybe as a tennis player you don't realise how important it is compared with some other big competitions, but when you have it, you know how important it is. Every player has his historical moments and in my case it was that semifinal against Federer and then my victory over Djokovic. People will remember it forever, also because of the effort and sacrifice I put into it and for the work I needed to do. I had played a great match against Federer, a semifinal that will be part of Olympic history.

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