Vondrousova narrowly missed Bencic and wins the silver medal!

Silver with a touch of gold. Markéta Vondroušová fell in the final after a fight and ends just below the top. Belinda Bencic was her overcomer, beating her 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to achieve the biggest success of her career. It is a lifetime achievement for Vondrousova as well. The Czech tennis team added 7 more medals to its medal collection. The Czech doubles pair Krejcikova/Siniakova will add another one tomorrow. Will it finally be gold?

The first set was very even and was marked by sudden reversals. Thanks to her active play, Bencicova broke back and took a 2:0 lead. The Czech managed to pick herself up and won 3 games in a row.

But Vondrousova was unable to confirm the break and the set was tied. The decisive moment came when the Swiss was leading 6-5. A passive Vondrousova couldn’t hold her serve and Bencic took the opening set.

The second set was much better from Vondrousova’s side. The Czech tightened up her game and it started to pay off. She broke her opponent quickly and got into a break. She was able to keep her promising lead and the score of this set went clearly in her favour. She dominated the second set 6: 2 and the final went into the decider.

Vondroušová entered the match on a high note and broke her opponent immediately. However, she didn’t confirm it and the Swiss returned to the game. She had the momentum on her side and even took the lead 3:1.

But the Czech didn’t give up and managed to make the match even more dramatic. But Bencic had the last word. At 4-3, she took Vondroušová’s serve and won the crucial game. The Swiss was able to finish the evenly matched battle and became the new Olympic champion.

But Markéta need not be sad. She played a great tournament, showed great tennis and deservedly won the silver medal. This is despite a lot of criticism that was levelled at her before the start of the tournament.

Vondroušová won her 7th medal for the Czech team. Czech tennis has thus won at least 1 medal at three Olympics in a row, which is a huge success. However, gold continues to elude them. Will Krejcikova and Siniakova make it in tomorrow’s doubles?

Source: Olympics