Tokyo 2020 - Marketa Vondrousova stuns Elina Svitolina to set up gold medal match against Belinda Bencic
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Published 29/07/2021 at 11:57 GMT
Marketa Vondrousova will face Belinda Bencic in a gold medal showdown after defeating number four seed Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals of the women's singles at Tokyo 2020. The Czech, who dumped out Japan's Naomi Osaka en route, prevailed 6-3 6-1 You want it? We have it. Stream every Olympic event live on discovery+
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Marketa Vondrousova will meet Belinda Bencic in the women’s singles gold medal match after upsetting number four seed Elina Svitolina in a one-sided contest.
The Czech, who is ranked 42 in the world, looked the more assured player throughout and clinched a 6-3 6-1 victory in one hour and four minutes.
The players exchanged early breaks before Vondrousova rallied from 0-30 down to dig out a hold for 2-2. It proved to be an important moment as the 2019 French Open finalist broke immediately after and kept Svitolina at bay before upsetting the Ukrainian’s serve once more as she looked to pose the serve-out question, to take the opener in just 34 minutes.
Vondrousova has enjoyed a highly impressive Games, including a famous win over Japan’s heavy favourite, Naomi Osaka and she maintained her momentum at the start of Set 2 as she followed up a hold with a break from 40-15 down to leave Svitolina with it all to do.
The number four seed never looked comfortable and let out an anguished cry when she was broken again for 5-1, allowing Vondrousova to serve out the match.
Earlier, Switzerland’s Bencic defeated Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 7-6(2) 4-6 6-3 in a rollercoaster semi-final.
The Swiss burst into tears of joy after coming through a tense affair that means her country will be guaranteed a tennis medal for the fourth Olympic Games in a row.
"I mean my emotions right now are too high,” she said. “To have the medal, for me it's the greatest thing ever to be here as an athlete for the Olympics.
"It's amazing, and also to have a medal, it's something I dreamt off and I didn't think it will become reality."
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