‘Receiving texts from Roger Federer during the Tokyo Olympics was inspiring’: Belinda Bencic
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Belinda Bencic and Roger Federer
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic has been on cloud nine after her stunning gold medal victory at the recently concluded Tokyo Games. Bencic who entered the mega event, as an outsider surprised one and all on her way to the coveted medal. She beat Marketa Vondrousova in the finals in three sets.
En-route to the finals, Bencic also beat the likes of 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and winner Barbora Krejcikova. It was the 24-year-old’s first big win on the tour. Her best performance before Tokyo came at the US Open semis in 2019.
Speaking to Tennis International, Bencic said the constant messaging from 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer was immensely inspiring and motivating.
“Yeah I mean, definitely it was inspiring when you get a text like this,” Bencic explained. “Coming from Roger, especially. From such a champion. He knows how to feel before big finals and kind of yeah, before moments like this so I think it’s very good for me like to kind of that he passes on this experience to me and I can learn from it.”
During her run at the Tokyo Olympics, the World No.12 Bencic shared stuff on how the Swiss maestro keep a constant check on the proceedings of athletes from Switzerland.
“Roger Federer is not wasting a minute of these Olympics. He knows perfectly well what is happening and how things are going for Switzerland. He sent a message to me and Viktorija Golubic after our debut in doubles, so he is very attentive to every single match. He is incredible in that way, he really supports all of the Swiss players. He is behind us and it’s just incredible the type of support I receive from Roger Federer, so this win is also for him,” Bencic said.
Grand Reception at the Airport for Bencic
The gold medalist also explained on how welcoming she and her colleagues felt upon landing in Switzerland.
“Coming home I think it was a very nice welcome at the airport. I mean, I didn’t expect this so much. It was so many people there, like cheering and clapping and everything. It was a really nice experience and it was also with the other medalists from Switzerland, so we were like about five I think in the aeroplane. So we all came together which was amazing,” the Swiss girl informed Tennis International.
Unfortunately, Bencic lost in the quarterfinals to fellow Swiss player Jil Tiechmann in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Southern and Western Open. Given her recent run and form, Bencic will be a dark horse in New York.
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Vivek Krishnan
(767 Articles Published)