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Laura Pigossi, Luisa Stefani win Brazil's first Olympic medal in tennis

Posted at 5:38 AM, Jul 31, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-31 06:38:34-04

RESULTS

Brazilian pair Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani defeated the Russian Olympic Committee's Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina for the bronze medal in women's doubles at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. 

The Pigossi/Stefani team won 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 in two hours and 11 minutes at Ariake Tennis Park, saving four straight match points and winning six straight points to close it out. The pair upset two seeded teams in the first rounds of the tournament before losing to Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic, who will play for the gold, in the semifinals.

The medal is Brazil's first ever in Olympic tennis.

Vesnina, a four-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, will also play in the mixed doubles gold medal match with Aslan Karatsev on Sunday.