Czech tennis players Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac won the mixed doubles gold medal at the Olympic Games on Friday, defeating China's Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen 6-2, 5-7, 10-8. Despite their victory, the duo chose to keep their personal relationship private amid rumors of a recent split.

"That's our personal life so you don't need to know that," said 29-year-old Siniakova. Machac added humorously, "This is top secret. In red letters, top secret."

For Siniakova, this win marks her second Olympic gold; she previously won the women's doubles title with Barbora Krejcikova in Tokyo three years ago. She also boasts nine Grand Slam doubles titles, including two in 2024 with Coco Gauff at the French Open and Taylor Townsend at Wimbledon.

"I think it definitely helps to have that experience. Because in doubles, especially, you play those super tiebreaks a lot," Siniakova commented on their experience.

Machac acknowledged the bittersweet nature of their victory as it came against his close friend Zhang. "I feel really sad for him, because I know how he likes to represent his country, and to bring the gold medal," Machac said. "He always said that it was his life goal to achieve any medal for the country. I'm really sad about it, but on the opposite, I'm also happy to receive the gold medal. I wish him all the best, I really like him as a person."

Wang and Zhang aimed to win only China's second tennis gold medal, the first being achieved by Li Ting and Sun Tiantian in women's doubles at Athens in 2004. Zhang joked about the impact of their loss on his friendship with Machac, saying, "Our friendship is totally broken. He destroyed my Olympic Games... everything. This is a joke. We have a really good relationship."

China still has a chance for tennis gold with Zheng Qinwen set to face Donna Vekic in the women's singles final on Saturday.