Nobody can say Elina Svitolina didn't earn Olympic bronze the hard way.

The Ukrainian No. 4 seed claimed her nation's first ever medal in tennis with a comeback 1-6 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in two hours and 24 minutes, bringing her total time on court at Tokyo 2020 to almost 14-and-a-half hours.

Six singles matches, four won in three sets – the first of which lasted more than three hours – and 80 minutes of doubles, all played in the sweltering conditions the players have been competing in at Ariake Tennis Park: it has been a monumental effort. There may not have been blood, but there was certainly sweat and, as she collapsed to the court after overhauling the No. 14 seed in two hours, 21 minutes, there were tears of joy at the end of a gruelling Olympic odyssey.

Ever the competitor, Svitolina admitted the victory was bittersweet, admitting her disappointment at losing to Marketa Vondrousova in the semi-finals – one of those straight-sets matches, as her exertions to reach the medal rounds caught up with her – but also reflecting on the mental and physical strength it had taken to come again and win bronze.

“Coming here, for sure my goal was to win a gold medal, and it was extremely tough to lose in the semi-finals and then try to regroup and come again against a top player who is playing really good,” Svitolina said.

“To win such a big battle for the bronze medal definitely means the world to me. Everyone in Ukraine is watching – we don’t win so many medals, you know – so for sure, it’s very special for me and for Ukraine.”

And it was a battle. Rybakina’s run to the semi-finals has seen the 22-year-old produce some of her most consistently threatening big-ball tennis of the season, so to see her surge to a one-set lead in just 28 minutes seemed ominous for Svitolina, given the toll her week in Tokyo has surely taken.

When she dropped serve to trail 2-1 in the second the likelihood of a comeback appeared remote, but somehow she found a way, snatching her third break point chance to level up at 3-3 and clinging on to clinch the subsequent tiebreak and send the match into a decider.

Rybakina rallied, breaking early once more and opening up a 4-1 lead, but from there Svitolina dropped just six points in a four-game surge to somehow stand on the verge of victory. Even then, it was not easy: in the final game she opted for safety over swashbuckling, playing to draw the errors but too often leaving an inviting ball for the Kazakh to dispatch with a flat-hit winner.

Six match points came and went with Svitolina struggling to send her strokes beyond the service line until, finally, she threw herself into one final forehand that skidded away for a winner.

“A lot of things crossed my mind, honestly,” she said of the rollercoaster nature of the contest. “When you lose large in the first set, then miss your serves a couple of times...

“My secret is to to overcome those bad thoughts with something more positive, so I can focus on the future and leave the bad things behind. I was upset in the beginning, but I got back, pulled myself together. This was a hell of a match for me, but fighting for a bronze medal meant a lot to me and I was focused on that."

For Rybakina, the loss was tough to take but she reflected on a fine Olympic debut with hopes to build on this run in time for Paris 2024.

"I was up many moments, and it's not easy," she said. "Every time you are up and then the person is coming back. She was fighting too. She wanted to win so bad, every point was tough.

"Every match was good for me. I really gave everything I could, I spent a lot of energy here. But I think it's good for my future."

For Svitolina, one last appointment in Tokyo before she can call time on her mini-honeymoon: a trip to the Olympic podium and the chance to see the Ukrainian flag fly at Ariake Tennis Park.

“I hoped to win an Olympic medal for my country – and that’s not easy," she said. "All of the competitors were fighting, all of the matches were tough battles – this is what you expect at the Olympics, right? I was upset to have lost in the semi-finals but now I’m happy having won the bronze. I’m really proud of myself this week, and winning bronze crowns it for sure.”