The Spanish duo of Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa won the bronze medal in the women’s doubles at Paris 2024 on Sunday after beating the Czech duo of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova in third and fourth place in a convincing two sets (6-2, 6-2).
Bucsa and Sorribes, with their bronze, give the Spanish delegation its sixth official medal at the Olympic Games. A bronze that represents the fourteenth medal for Spanish tennis in this event – two golds, seven silvers and five bronzes – as well as the first in their personal list of achievements. A medal count that will increase during Sunday’s round of events with the one won by Carlos Alcaraz, who will win either gold or silver.
The Cantabrian and Castellón natives thus put the finishing touch to an incredible week for both of them on the Roland Garros courts, where they were only beaten by the Russians Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider in the semi-final. They emulate Arantxa Sánchez and Conchita Martínez (silver in Barcelona 1992 and bronze in Atlanta 1996), Conchita Martínez and Virginia Ruano (silver in Athens 2004) and Anabel Medina and Virginia Ruano (silver in Beijing 2008), as tennis players who have won a medal at the Olympic Games in the women’s doubles category.
English: Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes take bronze in Paris – Photo: Claudia GrecoA victory that Bucsa and Sorribes built on solidity in the return –they managed to get up to five breaks in their favor–, the net play of the Cantabrian, especially inspired, and the rockiness at the back of the court –only eight unforced errors in the entire match–. A complete dominance of the match that completely deactivated the Czechs, more erratic than in the rest of the tournament with 26 unforced errors.
The Spanish duo had a brilliant start. With Cristina Bucsa particularly inspired at the net, the Spaniards managed to break the Czechs’ serve in the first game of the match, confirming the break in the next game with Sorribes’ serve. They were on the verge of taking advantage of this momentum in the next game to get a second break, but the Czech duo saved two break points to make it 2-1 on the scoreboard.
An advantage that the Spanish would maintain in their next two service turns with comfortable games and with more than 90% of first serves. Thus, 4-2 up, the final blow to the first set would come in the seventh game, breaking Muchova’s serve to love, and achieving an insurmountable double break for the Czechs.
The bronze medal was very much in sight for Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes, who were one set up and displayed the best game of the tournament — 81% of first serves and only two unforced errors. A first set in which Bucsa at the net, and Sorribes with her baseline game, left Muchova and Noskova without arguments, who went up to 12 unforced errors.
And the second set started with the same symptoms as the first, with the Spanish pair breaking Noskova’s serve. And as if it were a repeat of the first, Sorribes held her serve to confirm the Spanish advantage on the scoreboard, although this time it was even better, as in the third game they would break Muchova’s serve. However, with 3-0, the Czechs would ‘show up’ in the match.
First, they managed to break the Spanish team’s serve for the first time, and then they held their serve and were just a break away and 3-2 in the score. It was time for the Spanish pair to show their personality, and this proved it with flying colours, with Sorribes comfortably holding her serve.
A game that gave both of them confidence again, as they broke the Czechs’ serve again and then closed out the match with Bucsa’s serve, making it 6-2 in one hour and 14 minutes of play and savouring a valuable and well-deserved bronze medal for a pair that had already shown at the Mutua Madrid Open that they were a good Olympic bet.
