On winning the Olympic gold, something her idols Hingis and Federer failed to do, she said, ''I think I accomplished it for them."
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Roger Federer, Martina Hingis, Stan Wawrinka, Patty Schnyder and many other notable Swiss tennis players have failed to win an Olympic singles gold medal. But on a late Saturday night in Tokyo, Belinda Bencic took centre stage and clinched the greatest achievement of her career by becoming an Olympic champion, defeating the Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Olympic Gold Medalist*?❤️??????
And one more Final to go tomorrow (today)??? pic.twitter.com/KP6fIUUyuc
— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic) July 31, 2021
In a tense match filled with sharp momentum swings, Bencic was considerably more disciplined than her opponent and her consistency was rewarded on the biggest points at the end as she won the final three games to take the gold medal. Despite how composed she appeared, Bencic said she spent much of it on the edge.
“When you feel you can’t do anything more but you hold on to your dream, you really play it as if it’s your last match,” she said. “I proved in this match and I’m going to prove in the doubles that I never give up. I just existed, I couldn’t think any more, I couldn’t walk anymore.”
Bencic will now look to her next challenge. The doubles final on Sunday in which she and her compatriot Viktorija Golubic will play against the Czech world No 1 team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova with another gold medal on the line.
Only three other players have ever achieved the double – Venus Williams, Nicolas Massu and Serena Williams.
“I will give everything I can,” Bencic said. “It’s unbelievable to have two medals, one gold already and another still to be decided. I will try to enjoy it because really it’s the memories that will last for ever.”
On winning the Olympic gold, something her idols Hingis and Federer failed to do, she said, “I think I accomplished it for them. I think they did so much in their careers. I’m not sure I will ever be able to do what they have done. But maybe I could help them to accomplish this one by giving them this Olympics. So it’s both for Martina and for Roger.”
Bencic and Swiss partner Viktorija Golubic face the top-seeded Czech team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
She was also asked if Federer has been in touch with her.
”Yes, he wrote to me today. He said this was the perfect day to reach my dreams and I was really happy about that. And he was absolutely right.
“He is incredible in that way, he really supports all of the Swiss players. He is behind us and it’s just incredible the type of support I receive from Roger Federer, so this win is also for him.”
