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people sending me their support when things are not going well. "When you have a big achievement, you have a lot of people wanting to take part, but I really appreciate the ones who are still supporting me when I don't have such a good time and results are bad. This success is for them. "The support throughout the whole week, however, was amazing. Some very great athletes from Switzerland were texting me, as well as some surprising people not related to sports. "They were saying, 'let's go for gold' and 'do it', setting very high expectations, and some of the Olympic athletes from Switzerland were sending me tips and telling me to enjoy the moment because I have come so far. "They were telling me to enjoy the battle and not think about things too much in the heat of the moment and, for me, that was a very great tip which I was living by as the week unfolded." The advice clearly worked. She dispatched Jessica Pegula of the United States, home favourite Misaki Doi, Krejcikova, ROC's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan before drawing swords with Vondrousova. With Bencic in touching distance of greatness, Vondrousova struck what proved her final return beyond the baseline, prompting the Swiss to collapse to the ground in joyous celebration as the scale of her achievement began to sink in. "In this moment, I was just so happy that the match was over because I was So many people followed the Olympics and they were so happy for us. Equally, we were very happy to bring home medals for Switzerland. "I am really, really proud to represent Switzerland in the Olympics but also in my normal singles matches too. Making people happy in Switzerland means so much to me." Following her showdown with Vondrousova, from which she prevailed 7-5 2-6 6-3, Bencic revealed she had received a pre-match message of encouragement from compatriot and 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. The 40-year-old, who was absent from Tokyo as he continued his recovery from a knee injury, impressed upon Bencic that the day of the final was not a bad time to "make your dreams come true". Support from Federer, who won doubles gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and silver in the singles at London 2012, was nothing new and something which has been offered to Bencic throughout her career. Naturally, she values Federer's advice hugely. Bencic is also eternally grateful for the well wishes she received as her title charge gained momentum. She is, however, keen to point to those who have stood by her through leaner times when form was not gold standard. "I am happy for Roger's support because he has been a rock in my career and someone who I can always ask questions and ask for tips," added Bencic. "I am very happy about anyone congratulating me or taking joy from my Olympic success. I also really appreciate Above le Bencic is the first Swiss woman to win gold in the Olympic Tennis Event Above right She and Viktorija Golubic suffered defeat in the women's doubles final to Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova 10 Tokyo 2020 ITF World

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