Czech tennis players Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac won the mixed doubles gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics Friday night, embracing and laughing about their "top secret" relationship status.
Siniakova and Machac edged China's Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen, 6-2, 5-7, 10-8, in a match tiebreaker. Social media has been abuzz with speculation about the pair's romantic relationship and that they might no longer be together.
At a post-victory press conference, Machac rolled his eyes, and Siniakova chimed in, "That's our personal life, so you don't need to know that. We like when you are confused." Machac chimed in to say, "This is a top secret."
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Siniakova has now won both Summer Games tennis titles for her country, with the earlier one being in women's doubles at the Tokyo Games, also with Barbora Krejcikova. Siniakova is a doubles specialist, having won nine Grand Slam titles-seven of those with Krejcikova. Most recently, she partnered with Coco Gauff in winning the French Open and with Taylor Townsend in winning Wimbledon.
"I showed myself that I can play well with anyone," Siniakova said, "and I should be more proud of myself."
The bronze in mixed doubles went to Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands, 6-3, 7-6.
Before the final, Siniakova advised Machac with a light-hearted, "Ace on the line and winner on the line." Later, Siniakova underscored how much difference teamwork makes: "With a team, you are two, so it's really helpful when you communicate and you help each other."
This two-part advice from Siniakova finds applications both in what happens on the court and off it.
