Safarova & Strycova Beat The Canadians
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova backed up their upset over No.1 seeded team in the last round with another victory, coming back from a set down to oust the Canadian team of Eugenie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 at the Olympic tennis event.
Strycova and Safarova are a regular pairing when playing doubles in Fed Cup, and once again their games clicked together for the Czech Republic as they took on Bouchard and Dabrowski in the second round.
Fresh off of pulling off a straight-sets stunner against three-time doubles gold medalists Serena Williams and Venus Williams, the Czech duo had more trouble getting past the Canadians. The two teams traded breaks twice in the opening set to send it to a tiebreak, where Dabrowski’s monumental effort at the net gave them the edge. But the Czechs recovered from the early deficit and broke twice to take the second set and even up the score.
After trading breaks once more to start off the final set, Safarova and Strycova earned the decisive one for a 4-3 lead and consolidated after a fierce battle. They marched into the quarterfinals after a two-hour and 11 minute encounter.
More to come…