Rio Olympics 2016: Rafa Nadal wins his second gold medal after clinching men’s doubles title with Marc Lopez

Rafa Nadal added the Rio 2016 men’s doubles to his already glittering tennis trophy haul after an injury-ravaged season.

The Spanish master, who missed the French Open and Wimbledon, clinched gold in Brazil with team-mate Marc Lopez after they defeated the Romanian team 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

But only after court officials had captured and evicted a bat that was causing havoc in the arena.

A brave helper managed to hurl a towel over the winged beast to allow play to continue and Nadal wasted no time soaring away with the title.

Mergea and Tecau made up the defeated Romanian duo who went down easily in the first set but rallied in the second to give the Spaniards a brief bat-free scare before they wrapped things up in the third.

The triumph is Nadal’s second Olympic gold after his singles win at Beijing 2008.

And he could still add more to his haul after reaching the semi-finals of the singles after beating Thomasz Bellucci of Brazil in three sets.

Nadal faces Argentina star Martin Del Potro in the semi-finals and he could face Britain’s Andy Murray in the final if the great Scot can defeat Japan’s Kei Nishikori in Saturday’s other semi-final.