Belinda Bencic continued her incredible campaign at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, beating Marketa Vondrousova to win the women’s singles gold medal.
The Swiss earned her nation’s third Olympic gold medal in tennis thanks to a 7-5 2-6 6-3 triumph over the unseeded Czech – the most prestigious prize of her impressive pro career.
Bencic has an opportunity to double her gold medal haul when she returns on Sunday to play in the women’s doubles final alongside Viktorija Golubic.
Earlier on Saturday, Elina Svitolina won the women’s singles bronze medal with an incredible comeback against Elena Rybakina.
The world No.6 trailed Kazakhstan’s Rybakina 6-1 3-1, and 4-1 in the third set, before completing a 1-6 7-6(5) 6-4 victory to earn Ukraine’s first ever Olympic tennis medal.
“To win such a big battle for the bronze medal definitely means the world to me. Everyone in Ukraine is watching – we don’t win so many medals, you know – so for sure, it’s very special for me and for Ukraine,” said Svitolina, who ultimately triumphed on her seventh match point.
“Coming here, for sure my goal was to win a gold medal, and it was extremely tough to lose in the semi-finals and then try to regroup and come again against a top player who is playing really good.
“I’m really proud of myself this week, and winning bronze crowns it for sure.”
In the first match of the day on Centre Court, Pablo Carreno Busta won a men’s singles bronze medal for Spain after beating world No.1 Novak Djokovic in a gruelling three-set clash.
Carreno Busta missed a match point in the second set but refocused in the third, upsetting the Serbian 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 after almost three hours on court in brutal summer conditions.
Bencic overcomes Vondrousova for gold
No.9 seed Bencic had beaten the in-form trio of Barbora Krejcikova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Rybakina in her previous three matches – all in three sets – and carried that momentum into the early stages of the final.
She broke Vondrousova on her way to a 2-0 lead but the Czech settled, reeling off three games in a row and also holding two more break points for a 4-3 lead.
Bencic wrested back the momentum and from there the set went on serve, with Bencic’s aggressive approach contrasting with Vondrousova’s counter-punching style.
Bencic’s ability to take the ball early and punch through Vondrousova’s defences proved decisive; she struck 57 per cent of her shots inside the baseline, compared with just six per cent for the Czech.
Bencic broke in the 12th game to take the first set, celebrating loudly. But this was not the killer blow that it might have seemed.
Vondrousova answered resoundingly in the second set; she broke early, drove a forehand winner to lead 3-1, broke again for a 4-1 lead with an incredible half-volley winner, and wrapped it up with an unreturnable swinging serve out wide.
Congrats @BelindaBencic !!!! Welcome to the Gold Medal Club!!!! ??
— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) July 31, 2021
GOOOOOOOOLD !!!!! ?AMAZING LIL CHAMP !!! ?? @BelindaBencic @swissteam
— Timea Bacsinszky (@TimeaOfficial) July 31, 2021
She finished it with more than three times as many winners as the Swiss and carried that form into the third, breaking Bencic in the opening game.
But despite two game points to consolidate the break for a 2-0 lead, Vondrousova couldn’t take them. And when she double-faulted in the fourth game to get broken to love, she trailed 3-1.
After saving break points to hold for 4-3, Bencic called for the trainer to have blisters on her foot treated. And when play resumed, she broke the suddenly error-prone Czech to lead 5-3.
Trailing 15-40 as she served for the gold medal, Bencic retained her composure and eventually sealed victory on her second match point.
Carreno Busta stuns Djokovic
Carreno Busta, ranked 11th, recently won his biggest career title at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg and has now won nine of his past 10 matches with his latest success in Tokyo.
Djokovic’s defeat, meanwhile, marks the first time he has lost back-to-back matches since the ATP Finals in 2019.
Barely 24 hours ago, Djokovic was stunned in the semifinals by German Alexander Zverev, despite leading by a set and a break.
He started strongly against Carreno Busta on Saturday, earning two break points for a 2-0 lead.
But he could not convert and a few games later the Spaniard snared the first break of the set, to love, when Djokovic began falling off his groundstrokes and committing errors.
Carreno Busta earned two set points on Djokovic’s serve in the ninth game but Djokovic saved both and then surged to a 15-40 lead in the following game, a point away from levelling at 5-5.
But he could not convert.
The second set progressed to a tiebreak where the Spaniard wobbled significantly, committing four straight nervous unforced errors to trail 4-1.
He settled, reeled Djokovic in, and arrived at match point – only for Djokovic to save it with an unreturnable serve.
The Serbian then earned set point and came out on top of a searching rally to force a third.
When the players returned from a 10-minute heat break it seemed Djokovic had already won the mental battle when he held a break point in the opening game.
Again he could not capitalise, and a relentless Carreno Busta stormed to a 5-2 lead thanks to a succession of winners in the seventh game.
Djokovic made it difficult for him to close it out, but on his sixth match point, Carreno Busta ensured the bronze medal was his when Djokovic sent a forehand into the net.
Doubles: Bronze for Aussies, Brazilians
Djokovic then promptly withdrew from the mixed doubles bronze medal match, handing Ash Barty and John Peers Australia's first Olympic tennis medal since Alicia Molik won singles bronze at Athens 2004.
Barty and Peers were supposed to line up against Djokovic and Nina Stojanovic, but Djokovic was unable to take to the court, citing a shoulder injury.
Djokovic had played three matches in the preceding 24 hours, losing to Zverev and Carreno Busta in singles either side of a mixed doubles loss, alongside Stojanovic, late on Friday night to Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev.
.@ashbarty and @johnwpeers have won Mixed Doubles #bronze at #Tokyo2020! It's our first tennis medal since 2004 ???#TokyoTogether #Tennis @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/X2wrz8nicL
— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) July 31, 2021
Earlier, in the women's doubles bronze medal match, Brazilians Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani claimed Brazil's first ever Olympic tennis medal with a stunning come-from-behind triumph against Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova.
Vesnina and Kudermetova, the Wimbledon finalists, held four match points when they led 9-5 in the match tiebreak, before Pigossi and Stefani stormed back to win the final six points of the match and snatch a 4-6 6-4 [11-9] victory.
“Words can’t express what this medal means. It’s a dream. I always wanted this medal, I always wanted this – I’m over the moon and speechless," Pigossi said.
"Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve given up to get here, I always thought it was worth it, but now I have a medal to prove it.
"And we know that everyone in Brazil was behind us.”
Vesnina has an opportunity to temper her disappointment when she teams with Karatsev in Sunday's mixed doubles gold medal match against fellow Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev.