In the final of the women’s doubles tournament at the Olympic Games, Mirra Andreeva and Diana Schneider met the representatives of Italy, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. The Italians finished third at the Paris Games and could be considered favourites in the decisive match.
But Andreeva and Schneider proved with their performance at the Olympics that they are capable of beating anyone. And with that attitude they reached the final.
At the start of the first game, the opponents exchanged winning games, but with the score 2:1 in their favour, Andreeva and Schneider, with the help of the Italians, managed to make the first break of the match. The Russians managed to take advantage of this success and won the set 6:2.
The start of the second match was in the hands of Errani and Paolini. They were able to lead 2:0. Unfortunately, after that Andreeva and Schneider were unable to gain the upper hand and lost 1:6.
The Russians continued to make mistakes in the decisive set – the championship tie-break. They quickly let the Italians take the lead and then counterattacked, but Errani and Paolini acted more accurately and achieved victory.
At the Paris Olympics, athletes from Russia and Belarus compete in a neutral state, without flags or anthems, and their medals are not included in the overall ranking of the Games.
