Vondrousova becomes first Czech woman to reach Olympic singles final

Marketa Vondrousova became the first Czech woman to reach the Olympic singles final after beating Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-1 in their last four clash.

The world No. 42, who stunned home favourite Naomi Osaka in the opening round, took another significant scalp on the biggest of stages at Tokyo 2020, with her 64-minute win over fourth-seeded Svitolina setting up a gold-medal showdown with Belinda Bencic on Saturday.

A proper pinch-yourself moment, Vondrousova admitted she had far exceeded her own expectations with her run to the final. 

"I was thinking that [to win] two or three matches would have been great, and then I beat Naomi so then I thought that I was playing well and that maybe I could even do better," she said. "I'm now just happy to be in the final. It's an amazing feeling.

"I can't believe it. Maybe it'll sink in later. This is amazing, even if it's silver or gold, it's amazing and I'm just very proud."

Vondrousova's triumph saw her go one better than Jana Novotna and Petra Kvitova, who claimed singles bronze at Atlanta 1996 and Rio 2016, respectively, and continues an excellent Games for the Czechs.

They are guaranteed two medals in the tennis event after Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova booked their spot in the women's doubles gold medal match earlier on Thursday.

Contrasting with Vondrousova's delight was the despair of Svitolina. The Ukrainian was crestfallen to have missed an opportunity to compete for a gold medal, having given her all to reach the last four in exhausting three-set victories over Laura Siegemund, Alja Tomljanovic and Maria Sakkari in the oppressive Tokyo heat.

"It's an amazing feeling to represent my country in the bronze medal match but I'm really disappointed today," she said. "I tried my best but I expected to go further.

"Unfortunately there are other players who are playing well. It's extremely tough and it didn't happen today.

"Marketa played really well, a very solid performance and I couldn't find my best tennis today and everything came together for her."