Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist in women’s lawn tennis (singles division) after beating Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in two hours and 30 minutes of hell-for-leather tennis.
With practically all the favorites knocked out, it was a free-for-all as early as the quarterfinals; and certainly, Bencic and Vondrousova wasted no time in turning the Olympics into their oyster.
Consider their victims from round three that turned the next rounds into their playground. For Bencic, it was reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova whom she beat in three, and world number two Naomi Osaka for Vondrousova whom she defeated in straight sets. And so, with world number one Ashleigh Barty’s shocking exit in round one and 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek’s second round loss among others, the field was just open to who really wanted the gold medal more.
Right from the opening bell, it just showed; the finalists were just like women possessed — and playing like a video game where balls bounced right back just after you hit ’em. That after losing a hard first set, 5-7, Vondrousova got right back at Bencic in the second set, 6-2, to send the match into a stirring tiebreaker.
In the deciding set, the Swiss just proved to be steadier after a 3-3 tally and went on to win the Olympic gold.
Surely in the minds of many, the presence of other top players could have changed the outcome. Then again, could struggling players like Sofia Kenin and Bianca Andreescu made a difference? We don’t think so. Or could a rusty and recovering Simona Halep beat either of the finalists? Nope. So, who are you talking about that could have possibly changed the results? These are just deserving protagonists that we saw.
Meantime, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina took the bronze medal as she outlasted Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in a draining two hour 24-minute match.
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