Czech Republic win two bronze medals at Rio 2016
Petra Kvitova won the bronze medal in the women's singles event at Rio 2016, defeating Madison Keys 7-5 2-6 6-2 to capture a first Czech singles medal in Olympic tennis since Jana Novotna won bronze 20 years ago in Atlanta.
With a second bronze for the nation guaranteed on day eight, it was Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova who won the all-Czech women's doubles bronze medal match against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Safarova and Strycova prevailed 7-5 6-1 to complete a bronze sweep of the women's tennis events at Rio 2016.
Kvitova, seeded 11 in Rio, and No. 7 seed Keys were 2-2 in matches played before this one, and in the early stages of their bronze medal play-off there was little to separate the pair. But it was Kvitova who took the first set as they played under clear blue skies on Court 1 at the Olympic Tennis Centre.
Keys hit back to take the second set but the tall Czech moved clear in the third with a double break. The American dug in with Kvitova serving for the match, briefly threatening a comeback by getting to breakpoint, but Kvitova overcame the wobble to clinch victory on her fourth match point.
The two-time Wimbledon champoin sunk to her knees on court before going over to high-five members of the Czech support team, which included Olympic Team leader Petr Pala, who is also captain of the country's Fed Cup team. She then returned to her chair to bury her head in her towel.
"I'm still a bit emotional, so if I cry, sorry," Kvitova said afterwards. "It means almost everything, definitely. Having a medal from the Olympics is one of the best things to happen in my career definitely, along with the two Wimbledon titles and winning Fed Cups and WTA [Finals]. I'm very proud that I could bring it to the Czech Republic.
Reflecting on what had been a difficult year to this point, with early losses for Kvitova in all three Grand Slam events, she continued, "I had so many troubles with injuries, with the health and everything. I couldn't really find the best tennis in me," adding, "I'm so happy that I saved my best tennis for this event.
"It was quite a turnaround in Kvitova's fortunes after losing in straight sets to Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals yesterday. Such a turnaround is something only Olympic tennis can provide, with its unique opportunity to play off for a bronze medal. But for a losing semi-finalist who then falls in the bronze medal match, there's double devastation, and Keys felt all of it.
"This was an amazing experience and no badly how much this hurts today, there are so many positive to take away from it, I would never trade that in for anything," an emotional Keys said.
In the women's doubles, Safarova and Strycova denied London 2012 silver medallists Hradecka and Hlavackova the chance to win a second Olympic medal. Their straight-sets victory in the bronze medal play-off took an hour an 48 minutes and completed an impressive week for the unseeded pair.
This was only Safarova and Strycova's second event playing together, following a Fed Cup loss in 2015. Strycova wasn't due to play with Safarova in Rio, but replaced Karolina Pliskova when she withdrew. The Czech duo started their Olympic campaign by shocking the Williams sisters, three-time doubles gold medallists, in the first round.
It completed a miserable couple of days however for the other Czechs on court. Hlavackova and Hradecka had two match points in their semi-final against Timea Bacsinszky and Martina Hingis on Friday, before Hlavackova was struck on the cheek by a ball. After a length injury timeout - which subsequently led to a trip to hospital - she had a fractured cheekbone diagnosed. She decided to play today nonetheless, but she and Hradecka will now leave Rio empty-handed.