Belinda Bencic wins Olympic women’s singles gold at Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo; first Swiss woman to win Olympic tennis gold
Belinda Bencic’s fulfilment, five years on from Olympic gold: “Everything that came after felt more like a bonus”
Belinda Bencic’s fulfilment, five years on from Olympic gold: “Everything that came after felt more like a bonus”
The Tokyo 2020 tennis women’s singles champions explains to Olympics.com how she has been shaped by Olympic glory and becoming a mother.
“When you say five years, it doesn’t feel like that.”
Belinda Bencic can barely believe that half a decade has passed since the crowning moment of her career. She became the fourth Swiss tennis player to win an Olympic gold and the first to do so in women’s singles at Tokyo 2020 , held in 2021.
That night, she joined the star-studded company of Roger Federer , Stan Wawrinka and Marc Rosset , going on to add a silver medal in the women’s doubles the next day.
“I remember during the match I was saying to myself, ‘I have to play like it’s the last match of my life: even if I’m going to collapse on the court, I’m going to play’,” Bencic tells Olympics.com upon the fifth anniversary of her Tokyo triumph. “‘Even if I don’t win another match in my whole career, I don’t care. I just really want to win this match’.
“It was so hot and humid throughout the week. Playing singles and doubles on the same day every day was physically so exhausting, but I only felt it after. I’m super proud of this achievement and I always will be. I was in such a flow; maybe it even helped me to not be able to rest and think about it. I just kept going and every day was a new day.”
Bencic’s three-set battles were the epitome of her persistence in the Japanese summer heat, going the distance in the last four singles matches of her debut Games.
Thanks to victories over the reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejčíková and future Wimbledon winners Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondroušová , the Swiss completed a dream week at the Ariake Coliseum.
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Belinda Bencic on her push for Tokyo 2020 gold: “Like it’s the last match of my life” - Exclusive
The Swiss tennis star claimed singles gold and doubles silver in a glittering week five years ago. She sat down with Olympics.com on why it’ll remain forever special.
Belinda Bencic, playing without pressure post-Olympic glory
Bencic was 24 when she clinched the gold medal in Tokyo, the fifth singles title of her career. The Flawil native can instantly transport back to the night before the gold medal match. Minimal sleep, maximum nerves ahead of the biggest match of her career, although the semi-final classic with Rybakina gave her real belief.
“I wasn’t sleeping all night overthinking everything,” she says. “I was possibly more nervous during the semi-finals than during the final because I knew that, if I won this match, I have a medal for sure. I was celebrating like I won the tournament because the medal was guaranteed, so I remember that this match was really important for me.”
Reflecting on the final, the 29-year-old continues: “Once the match started, it was so physical and so tactical against Marketa - we know each other well. The match was really exhausting and we both really gave everything that we had left.”
After two-and-a-half hours, the clock approaching midnight local time and her final ounce of strength, a thumping serve down the line drew a long return and an explosion of emotion. A new Swiss star was born, delivering the nation’s first Olympic tennis gold in 13 years.
The ultimate celebrations would have to wait though: after returning to the Olympic Village at 03:00, Bencic was back on the courts the next morning to join forces with Viktorija Golubic in the women’s doubles final, losing out to Czechia’s Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková .
She did get a taste of festivities when landing at Zürich Airport with the other Swiss Olympic champions, before jetting off to compete in Cincinnati. After all, the life of a tennis player never slows down.
“It’s already everything I ever wanted,” says Bencic. “To win the Olympic gold for any athlete is the pinnacle of what you can achieve. That’s why I think everything that came after felt more like a bonus and something that I’m motivated towards.
“But it’s not something that I am putting pressure on myself, like, ‘I have to win a Grand Slam’ or ‘I have to win this tournament, otherwise my career is not worthy’. For me, it’s about trying to win it because I want to, and I want to do the best I can. I want to be motivated, but not because I feel the obligation to do so.”
While Bencic was disappointed to miss out on her title defence at Paris 2024 , there was good reason for her absence. She had just given birth to her daughter, Bella, and was in the midst of a year-long maternity break.
Bella is now a mainstay on her mother’s support team, alongside father and Bencic’s conditioning coach, Martin Hromkovič . She was on hand to support Belinda in claiming her first title as a mum in Abu Dhabi and is frequently spotted at practice courts and warm-up zones across the globe.
“She really likes to run around now, so we really cannot sit down at the moment,” beams Bencic. “She’s really into copying what I am doing on the court with her own little racket, and she calls it ‘tennising’. So she’s like, ‘Okay, mami , let’s go tennising!’
“It’s really cute, but I don’t really think she realises that I’m doing this for a living and it is my job. Hopefully she will also be really into sports. I don’t necessarily need her to play tennis. I just hope that she’s going to do sports because it’s an amazing life skill.”
Belinda Bencic won the Abu Dhabi Open for her first title as a mother
Bencic is part of a host of tennis mothers competing on the WTA Tour, including Grand Slam winners Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams . The blossoming community is proving that motherhood and professional competition can co-exist.
“Now female athletes realise that they can really choose to have a family mid-career and come back as well, so that’s really inspiring and incredible to see,” says the Swiss. “I was really inspired by mums that came back: Elina Svitolina , Allyson Felix , all these mums that came back, especially in track and field.
“I read this study that the runners can get back to the same level and even better after pregnancy. So that gave me a lot of confidence to make the same decision, and I hope younger athletes are going to see the same with us. For mums, we don’t feel pressure to travel to every single tournament and burn out our bodies even more.”
Two-year-old Bella is still a few years away from understanding what her mother does for work, though Bencic hopes that she will be proud of her Olympic gold medal when that day comes.
Belinda Bencic’s motivation for LA28
Bencic has been one of the most consistent forces on the women’s circuit since rising back up the ranks as a mother. Within four months of her comeback, the former world No. 4 was back inside the top 100, and she broke back into the top 10 this January.
It gives every reason for the St. Gallen native to fancy her chances at LA 2028 , where the tennis tournament begins three days after the conclusion of Wimbledon. Bencic reached the semi-finals at the All England Club last year, and is now relishing the chance to go to her second Olympics.
Belinda Bencic: Tokyo2020 Medal Moments
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic won Olympic gold in the tennis women’s singles at Tokyo 2020, and followed it up with a silver in the women’s doubles.
With compatriot Roger Federer out of Tokyo 2020 through injury, Bencic beat Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in a tightly-contested women’s singles gold medal match, and a day later teamed up with Viktorija Golubic in the women’s doubles gold medal match, but they were denied gold by the Czech pair of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
“A few months before LA, we will for sure prepare even more so I can be [at] my fittest,” explains Bencic. “I’m just going to really enjoy it, and I’m not going to think that I have to win again just because I won in Tokyo.
“As athletes, you always want more. But sometimes, I think to be happy and fulfilled, you have to also be really proud of what you have achieved. That’s why I think my career is definitely much more than I ever dreamed of. The Olympics is something that will be my biggest achievement.”
Playing for Switzerland always brings the best out of Bencic. Sporting her red kit and the Swiss cross, she has won two Hopman Cups and the Billie Jean King Cup, while winning nine out of her 10 matches in the nation’s run to the 2026 United Cup final.
LA28 will be a special moment for the returning Olympic gold medallist, who cherishes her Tokyo accreditation and memories of the Olympic Village. Without the pressure of her previous success, this time there will be an alternative target.
“We were so into collecting the pins,” says Bencic with a smile. “Me and Viki Golubic were running around the Village trying to find all the exotic nations and waiting in front of their houses so we could trade the pins. Cayman Islands was the nicest one: they had this incredible turtle pin, and it was so nice and really rare.
“We were really hoping to get this one and then we got it in the end. This is what I’m looking forward to most. I just need the Cayman Islands again and that’s it. We got almost everything…I have to recheck before flying to LA for sure. I’ll be walking around the Village with a list.”