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Reuters

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Reuters

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 Su?rez Navarro and Garbine Muguruza in 3-6, 6-1, [11]- [9] in the second round.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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Kshitij Tayal

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Kshitij Tayal is a Tennis author at EssentiallySports. Having played district level tennis competitions, Kshitij is also a tenured journalist of the sport with over four years of experience. At EssentiallySports, he pens down some thought-provoking pieces on players and tournaments across the ATP and WTA. Given his hardwork and complete dedication to his trade, Rafael Nadal is the player Kshitij admires the most. When he's not covering tennis, Kshitij works in business development and marketing. Besides tennis and work, Kshitij loves to read autobiographies and books on Indian history.

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