PARIS 2024: DEFENDING CHAMPION OUT TO RIDE THE WAVE OF SUPPORT FROM BACK HOME
Defending Olympic champion Belinda Bencic has nothing but fond memories of the incredible support she received from back home during her run to gold in Tokyo.
She feels that tennis doesn’t have other events like the Olympics which sets it aside as something special in the sport.
Bencic is proud to represent Switzerland on the world stage and bid for another Olympic medal in France.
“Yeah, for sure,” Bencic said when asked if the support would be a factor in Paris.
“The whole vibe, going there for Switzerland, being an Olympian, having that feeling — `Wow, you can represent your country at the Olympics like so many athletes are dreaming about.’
“For me, it was a really proud moment. Especially at the Opening Ceremony, walking there with Team Switzerland. It was really a goosebumps moment.”
Bencic has always been a skilled player; she had an impressive singles record of 384-203 before leaving the game last autumn to give birth to her daughter Bella.
However, Bencic had her best-ever tennis run in the summer of 2021—a year after the global pandemic had forced the postponement of the Games.
In nine days, she went 6-0 and defeated Marketa Vondrousova in the singles championship match. In the meanwhile, she and partner Viktorija Golubic won their first four doubles matches, going 10-for-10, until losing in the gold medal match against the Czech combination of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
Bencic believes that being an Olympic medalist comes with some responsibility as she feels like she has to be a role model for the entire movement.
“I know for some people it’s more pressure,” said Bencic, who keeps her gold and silver medals in a box at home dedicated to her Olympic experience. “I also kind of see more responsibility, but maybe more pride. I’m really proud when I step on the court. And I feel like I’m really fighting for my country, and I really want to make my country proud.
“There’s just some kind of different feeling that comes up in me, kind of helps me come through tough matches.”
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The reigning Olympic gold medalist welcomed her first child, a daughter named Bella, this April.
She is another player out to prove what mothers can do on the WTA Tour and joined a growing club that also includes former world No 1 Naomi Osaka.
Osaka harbour her own Olympic dreams.
“One of my biggest goals since I was a kid was obviously to win a medal in the Olympics,” Osaka said at the French Open. “I feel like everyone that plays Olympics wants to win a medal, so we are all kind of reaching for the same goal.
“That would be my goal. I have a bunch of mini-goals that would hopefully lead me into that big goal, which is to have fun, to enjoy the experience a lot more. Yeah, just seeing everything and witnessing.”
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2024-07-26T18:38:39Z dg43tfdfdgfd