Belinda Bencic on Olympic success: If I stop my career tomorrow I can be very happy about everything

Belinda Bencic says she rode an emotional wave to Olympic glory in Tokyo earlier this month, and the Swiss wouldn’t trade those moments for anything.

Speaking to reporters in her pre-tournament press conference at the Western and Southern Open, Bencic said that the happy vibe started the minute she showed up in the Olympic village.

“Kind of I think I was on a high the whole week emotionally, really looking forward to every day,” Bencic said. “I really loved the village.”

Bencic says the elation she felt at being a part of the Olympics helped fuel the positive mindset, which then helped her play amazing tennis.

“For me, achieving this, it’s already amazing. If I stop my career tomorrow I can be very happy about everything.”

Belinda Bencic

“I think for me it was very positive vibes from the start,” she said. “I think in the end I kind of thought about it, and I think this, like, put me through a lot. It was totally new experience for me. I just knew from people how it’s going to be, Olympics and everything. But to experience everything yourself, literally everything we did was an experience. We went for breakfast, that was amazing. Then we went to the gym, to the Olympic Village gym, and that was a whole new experience.”

No pressure to win a Slam at the moment

Bencic, 24 years old and ranked as high at No 4 in the world previously (currently 11), says that after making a lifelong dream come true in Tokyo, she isn’t about to start pressuring herself to do more.

“I think to win the Olympic gold medal, it’s really like a dream coming true,” she said. “Of course I have dreamed about it, but you’re not really going to achieve it, achieve it right away and everything. It was my first Olympics I played. For me it was very kind of – how you say? – not a surprise but very happy that I kind of reached. Unbelievable almost.

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“Now I feel like really people are going always to ask, What do you do next? What is your goal, to put pressure and everything. For me, achieving this, it’s already amazing. If I stop my career tomorrow I can be very happy about everything.”

Always give luck a chance

Though she doesn’t want to feel pressure about taking the next step in her career so soon after a milestone moment, Bencic does believe that the experience of winning the Gold medal match can only help her when she plays on the biggest stages.

“This is for sure something that is an experience,” she said. “Already you felt how it feels to win a big title. I’ve always wondered how it is. Actually, when you have the match point, such an important Grand Slam or Olympic final, how do you even walk up to the line, finish it, and everything? So now I actually know.

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“I’ve heard a really good quote: When you always give luck a chance, go deep in important tournaments, then at some point maybe it will, like, go for you, turn around for you.

“This is definitely my goal, to kind of try and dig deep of course in the big tournaments. Maybe I can use this special experience to kind of finish it. Yeah, for me this is very important to have. It’s not going to be like a first-time big final or something.”