Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani saved 4 match points vs Kudermetova and Vesnina to win the first tennis medals for Brazil in history.
The Brazilian duo came out of nowhere in this event and they will leave as Olympic medallists after a majestic comeback late in the match tiebreak saving 4 match points. The Women's doubles finals is one that nobody really expected as we got two pairs who were not projected to be there. Nonetheless, they earned it and showed why in the final. It was a great and entertaining match with the Russian starting better.
They jumped out to a 4-1 lead and it seemed it would be a quicky bronze medal match however the Brazilians fought back. They pulled one break back and almost pulled the other back. Kudermetova and Vesnina fought and kept the lead to win the first 6-4. In the 2nd however, they were flat at the start allowing the Brazilians the early break.
Pigossi and Stefani took the 2-0 lead in the first two games and never looked back. They played a nearly perfect set not allowing a single break point against Kudermetova and Vesnina who applied a lot of pressure. In the end, both held on to their serves and the Brazilians took the 2nd set with 6-4. It was time for the match tiebreak with the Brazilians having momentum on their side.
It did not matter initially as Kudermetova and Vesnina played a perfect match tiebreak to take a 7-2. After that, they had a 9-5 lead with four match points but the Brazilians saved all of them. After that Stefani and Pigossi won the match with an 11-9 finish winning 6 straight points.