TOUGH! Spaniards Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro Squander a Match Point and Lose to Swiss Pair Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The doubles team of Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic won a nail-biting match to book their place in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Swiss duo defeated the Spanish team of Carla Suárez Navarro and Garbine Muguruza in 3-6, 6-1, [11]- [9] in the second round.

Despite being a match point down in the tiebreaker, the Bencic-Golubic team held their nerve and won three consecutive points to claim victory in an emphatic fashion.

Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic enter quarterfinals

As the heartbreaking loss ended the hopes of the Spanish women’s doubles team, it also signaled an end to Suarez Navarro’s Olympic career. Having made her Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games, this was Carla’s fourth and last career appearance at the quadrennial event.

Last year in September, Suarez Navarro was diagnosed with cancer, which kept her out for eight months, as she underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.

Therefore, it was a special moment for the Spaniard to make a return at the 2021 Roland Garros and then get to team up with her close friend, Muguruza, for doubles at the Olympics.

Meanwhile, for Bencic, it has been an incredible run so far; she has reached the quarterfinals in singles as well as the doubles event. She ousted Barbora Krejcikova in a thrilling three-set match in the third round.

Up next, she will face the No.13 seed, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, for a place in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics. The two have faced off seven times, with Bencic having a 5-2 lead in their head-to-head meetings.

Coming to the doubles draw, the team of Bencic-Golubic will compete against the Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and Ellen Perez in the quarterfinals.

Who do you think would clinch the gold medal in women’s doubles?