Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic earned a bronze medal in the women’s singles bracket at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Saturday, besting American Madison Keys in three sets. Keys fought hard but was ultimately unable to deliver Olympic hardware for Team USA, a task that fell solely to her once Serena Williams and Venus Williams were both eliminated from contention earlier in the bracket.
Petra Kvitova wins 2016 Olympic tennis bronze medal
Kvitova bested American Madison Keys in the Olympic bronze medal match on Saturday.
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Kvitova bested Keys, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. Keys played some of the best tennis of her young career in the Olympics, and as the first American woman to debut in the top 10 since Serena Williams in the 90s, she surely has some big wins on the horizon. But Kvitova, who has won a pair of Grand Slam singles titles in her career, was too much for her.
Kvitova bounced back in a big way after losing the final four games of the second set, dominating in the third and final frame. For Kvitova, this is a huge boost as she had not been beyond the quarterfinals of a major since her second Wimbledon win in 2014. Keys looked the part of inexperience, failing to convert on a pair of set points in the first.
The gold medal match between Angelique Kerber, the second seed who took down Keys in the semifinals, and Monica Puig, the unseeded Puerto Rican who bested Kvitova in the other semifinal, will also take place on Saturday.
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