Paris 2024 Paralympics wheelchair tennis: Gustavo Fernandez hails first Paralympic medal after bronze match triumph
Gustavo Fernández finally has his Paralympic medal.
Having reached the quarter-finals in the men's singles competition at the previous three Games, 'Gusti' took full advantage of his medal chance at Paris 2024 by decisively beating Spain's Martín de la Puente 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday (7 September) for bronze.
"This is an amazing feeling," the five-time Grand Slam singles champion told Olympics.com after the contest. "I'm overwhelmed with emotion, but I think with time I will see what I did today.
"The way I enjoyed myself and played this week, with the atmosphere and my family and team [in the stands], was huge for me. I'm just really happy."
It was a historic win for Fernández who became the first South American to win a Paralympic medal in wheelchair tennis.
The 30-year-old, who made history in 2017 by becoming the first Argentinian singles world number one in any form of tennis, went down in Thursday's semi-finals to number two seed and reigning French Open champion Oda Tokito of Japan.
But on Saturday, Fernández was back to his best, displaying a ruthless attack that included 33 service winners to the Spaniard's 16 and converting four out of six break points to earn his spot on the Paralympic podium at long last.
"I knew that if I [played] well I had chances to dominate I could pull the [win] out," Fernández said. "But I also knew that when I got to match point I was going to get nervous, so I was ready for it."
Fernandez also touched on what it means to him to win a Paralympic medal for his home nation of Argentina.
"It has great value and it was so hard to earn. It's one of the biggest achievements of my career. I can now take that weight [winning a medal for Argentina] out of my bag.
"These Games have been so special," he added. "Playing in full courts, huge courts, with an incredible atmosphere and being able to see my family after each match and know that they have my back was priceless, so now I just want to go and enjoy it [the win] with them!"