RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Rafael Nadal won his second Olympic gold medal on Friday when he and longtime friend Marc Lopez defeated Romania's Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau 6-2, 3-6, 4-6 in the men's doubles final.

Nadal, the 2008 singles champion in Beijing, is just the fourth player to win gold in singles and doubles after Serena and Venus Williams and Chile's Nicolas Massu.

The 30-year-old is still in contention for the singles title in Rio having earlier defeated Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals. That was his 800th career singles win.

The Spaniard will go on to face Juan Martín Del Potro of Argentina in Saturday's semi-finals.

For 34-year-old Lopez, it was a second impressive title of 2016 after he partnered compatriot Feliciano Lopez to the French Open title in June.