Irina Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova have brought Russia Olympic gold in the women’s doubles tennis event, beating Martina Hingis and Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland in the final match in Rio.
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The 35-year-old doubles World No. 1 had been seeking to cap her return to the Olympic arena after 20 years in flawless fashion, but was let down by Bacsinszky, an inexperienced doubles player who only teamed with Hingis after their respective partners Viktorija Golubic and Belinda Bencic pulled out of the competition.
The 35-year-old Hingis was making her second Olympic appearance 20 years after her first in Atlanta.
Back in 1997, she won a Wimbledon title at an age when most of us are learning to drive.
Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova are now Olympic gold medalists.
However, that victory nearly cost them dear as a series of flight delays and cancellations meant it took the pair the best part of four days to get to Brazil, arriving two days before the event started.
In a last-minute solution, where Vitorija Golubic dropped out of the team, Hingis was paired with Bacsinszky.
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Makarova and Vesnina, who have combined to win two doubles majors, came up with 36 winners and took gold despite making 28 unforced errors as the Swiss pair failed to pull off a repeat of their semi-final fightback against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
