Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/699819
29 S ergio: It was something new and all of us went there to see what was going on. We were there without knowing the meaning of it. The tennis player was 95 percent of the time playing for his own career. Only in Davis Cup ties, if you were lucky to be included in the team, was there something different. When the possibility of taking part in the Games came along it was great news for us, we were happy, and we knew we had a chance to get a medal. [Ken] Flach and [Robert] Seguso were always hard for us. They took the first two sets really fast and afterwards we were able to win two in the tiebreaks. So that's why the match was so long. At the end, we were also close in the last set, and finally we lost 9-7. We didn't get any match points but we were really near, just two points away from winning that day. I look back and that silver medal is really special for us, but we were near the gold one and this is bittersweet. Emilio: It was a match with lots of opportunities for both teams. We had played an incredible tournament. We were playing really good. The year before we had lost the Wimbledon final against Flach and Seguso even though we had great chances to win it, and again it was the case. Sergio: In tennis you never had podiums. It was a different situation and you realise it is something big. But we didn't know how big it was until we went back home to Spain and we saw the big impact of that moment. It was a strange feeling for us. When you get into a final, you want to win it. And after it, we received a medal, it was like something unbelievable for a lot of people, but we felt we had lost. Emilio: I realised the magnitude of the event just after our arrival back home. Doesn't matter how many tournaments we had won in previous competitions; after that medal, thousands of people came to wait for us at the airport because at that time it was hard to get a medal for Spain. In Seoul, Spain only won three or four medals. Since those Games, we have always won medals in the Olympic tennis competition. Sergio: We lost a match and the airport was full of people waiting for us. You have to think we had won two Grand Slams at Roland Garros and the US Open and no one went to wait for us at the airport. Emilio: It was about being at the right place at the right moment. We were there when tennis had the chance of being part of the Games. Spain had had really good players in the past. But it was like an inspiration, a mirror for future generations as they realised they could be competitive and each generation has been better than the previous one. Sergio: In doubles you need to have good tennis skills and also a partner to build a team and have a good relationship with him. And this is what we got during many years. This was not a medal coming from nowhere. It was 1988 and we were playing doubles together at tournaments since 1983. We had also played some Masters (tournaments) and that year we had won seven or eight tournaments, including the US Open. Emilio: Normally, in tennis, the public are really thankful even if each person has his favourite player. In the Games, even if the public don't like you at all, everyone from your country wants you to win. Nobody wants you to lose. This is something you know and it is an extra motivation. A whole country is looking at you. This is something I will keep for me for the rest of my life. We didn't know how big it was until we went back home to Spain. SEOUL 1988 MEN'S DOUBLES SILVER