Pigossi and Stefani win historic, dramatic Tokyo 2020 doubles bronze

Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani have claimed Brazil’s first Olympic tennis medal with victory in the Tokyo 2020 women’s doubles bronze match in dramatic fashion, saving four match points to beat ROC’s Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova 4-6 6-4 [11-9].

The Olympic debutants – two of the final players to be added to the entry list for the Olympic Tennis Event – completed their fairytale run with a fightback from 9-5 down in the match tiebreak, winning the final six points in succession to seal a historic victory.

“Words can’t express what this medal means,” said Pigossi, who all week has made a mockery of her three-figure ranking in singles and doubles.

“It’s a dream. I always wanted this medal, I always wanted this – I’m over the moon and speechless. Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve given up to get here, I always thought it was worth it, but now I have a medal to prove it. And we know that everyone in Brazil was behind us.”

Having beaten Canadian No. 7 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Sharon Fichman in the opening round, and American No. 4 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jessica Pegula to reach the semi-finals, the Brazilians bounced back after their defeat by Swiss duo Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic against Rio 2016 champion Vesnina – chasing a second women's doubles medal – and Kudermetova, the ROC duo who reached the Wimbledon final just a few weeks earlier.

And ROC hit the front early on, racing out to a 3-0 lead with a break of Stefani’s serve. The Brazilians were more susceptible with the doubles world No. 23 in the back court, but when she was able to move forward, Stefani put on a volleyer’s masterclass, winning the psychological battle over Vesnina at close quarters.

When Kudermetova was broken to put the match back on serve at 3-4 the volume on court hit new levels, both sides keen to stay fired up and build some momentum. But the set stayed in the balance until Stefani served once more at 4-5, rifling a forehand into the net to give up the opener.

If that threatened to hand the ROC team momentum, a Brazilian break to love in the next game curbed the danger. Pigossi raised her game to meet the moment, firing a string of untouchable inside-out forehand returns from the ad court to keep Kudermetova and Vesnina in check as they looked to attack the net, and showing some fine touch of her own to help Stefani defend her serve and cling on to force a decider.

Vesnina and Kudermetova left the court before the match tiebreak to regroup, and perhaps to give their opponents time to think about what was on the line. If so, the tactic worked a charm as ROC – Kudermetova particularly – produced some spellbinding tennis to race out to a 5-1 lead. Victory seemed all but certain when they reached 9-5 but the gung-ho Brazilians punished their opponents for playing safe in dramatic fashion, falling to the court as Vesnina’s last-ditch lob sailed far beyond the baseline.

“The feeling is incredible,” Stefani said. “I don’t think we understand where we are – the important thing is being in the present, enjoying the feeling right now.

“We knew that we had given everything, and now we have all this emotion. From 0-0 to 9-5, we believed we could make it. This feeling of confidence and to play properly, this is what is wonderful.”

Reflecting on a journey that started with their late call-up to Tokyo and ends on the Olympic podium, Stefani admits it has all been a bit of a blur.

“When I received the information [that I was on the Olympic entry list] I was really happy, over the moon,” she said. “That was two or three days before coming here – my head was spinning, I couldn’t sleep – I was laughing, I talked with my coach. It was a feeling of euphoria.”

“She was sleeping when we got the news – I was waiting for her to wake up!” joked Pigossi, which Stefani confirmed: “I was relaxed, I had a good vibe, then I woke up to 500 messages. We started jumping around. This is a dream – and this feels like a dream still.

“There is nothing more important that representing Brazil. And this is important for tennis in Brazil – it’s a brilliant achievement. Maybe this will bring us more players in Brazil and motivate more girls to play tennis. This is what is wonderful in sport – I want to see Brazilian sport grow, for us to become more important in the sports world, especially for girls.”

For Pigossi, Olympic bronze confirms her belief that she can play at this level, despite having never contested a tour-level doubles event.

“I’ve always believed in myself,” she said. “I always thought I could play at the highest level. I played with all these girls when we were juniors, and in Billie Jean King Cup in Brazil. I would love to play together [with Luisa Stefani] – maybe we can go up in the rankings with each other’s help!

“The first thing I told her when we were the final team heading to the Olympics was: the last ones will be the first ones,” she added.