Belinda Bencic makes gold medal match with three set win over Elena Rybakina at Tokyo 2020

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland reacts after the final point sent her into the gold medal final after her semifinal match with Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland fought tooth and nail to earn a place in the gold medal final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Thursday. The 24-year-old had it out with Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who pressed the issue with her key winners through three sets only to go down 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3 on center court at the Ariake Tennis Park.  

The Kazak and Swiss met for the first time at a point wherein their first time playing at the Olympics, a medal of color was close at hand. Bencic took down both the winner and the finalist of this year’s French Open to face a new opponent. Though it took three sets to win each time, the 24-year-old had her game well in control to fight under any condition. Rybakina’s biggest win came against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who went down in flame in the second set. It was the biggest moment of her career for the 22-year-old, who had yet to make a slam semifinal. With both standing in uncharted territory, the players would find out how one another worked and play to beat them. 

Rybakina opened service holding Bencic to a point to set her performance level high for the competition. Bencic followed suit but allowed the Kazak to get two points in the second. A break for the Swiss gave her a 2-1 lead, but as it looked as if she would have the early leverage, Rybakina came back to strike. The 15^th seed broke back to level the score and held in the fifth for the lead. She scored the double break and made it 5-2 against the ninth seed. 

When it looked like she would be a set down, Bencic fought back to win the next three and level the score. Rybakina won the 11^th on serve, but her vulnerability let Bencic dictate well and force a tiebreak after a hard-fought game in the 12^th. The two played four breaks and 13 points where Bencic saved three set points in the process. 

With a high level of experience playing under pressure, the Swiss star handled the tiebreak with an early 3-0 run. Rybakina got on the board for the next point but watched the 24-year-old reach a set point. She herself saved two, but not a third that brought the set to a close in 1 hour and 13 minutes. Both had 20 errors that made their impacts when Rybakina’s 22 winners produced them for Bencic, and the ninth seed when she found a way to dig in and saved six set points in total. 

Going into the second was a better outlook for the Swiss star as she opened the set with a hold and notched a break with it. She hoped to get a third on serve, but issues with the forehand and a code violation for coaching took her off her game. Despite the slip-up, Bencic recovered and broke back Rybakina to regain the lead. The recovery was short for the ninth seed, who flopped on serve to level the Kazak. 

Rybakina took over control of the set, taking the next two games with one left to send them to a decider. The Swiss star refused to give her another game one from her service and put herself a game from leveling. Breaking Rybakina was not in the cards for the ninth seed as she managed to hold the important tenth game and send the two into a key third set after 41 minutes with her fifth ace. They both kept the unforced errors low in the second, but Rybakina’s winners (12) and Bencic’s three double faults made the biggest impact. 

The Swiss star continued to be frustrated with her service, suffering another double fault that caused her to be broken. The Kazak went up 2-0 with a comfortable service right before Bencic recovered nicely. A solid hold in the third rewarded her with a break of the 15^th seed, only to be broken right back in the fifth. Bencic managed to get a double break for her troubles and took the lead after the seventh. 

A final break put her in position to serve for the match and in the ninth, she gave Rybakina one point before her match point attempt clinched her to come through the tournament with nothing short of a silver medal. It was a 2 hour and 46-minute fight for Bencic, who had plenty of expressive moments on court but came through to make the final against Marketa Vondrousova for the gold medal.  

Rybakina had a lot of to be proud of during one of the best points of her career and found herself still in the running to go home with a bronze medal, but standing in her way was her good friend Elina Svitolina, who got the best of her each time.