Viktoriya Tomova Secures First Bulgarian Olympic Tennis Victory in 12 Years

Viktoriya Tomova has advanced to the second round of women's singles at the Paris Olympics, marking the first victory for a Bulgarian tennis player at the Olympic Games in 12 years. Tomova triumphed over Magdalena Frech from Poland with a score of 6:4, 7:6(4). The match lasted an hour and 53 minutes, and Tomova's performance was impressive, defeating the world No. 48 on Roland Garros courts.

In the first set, Tomova started confidently, pushing for a 2:1 lead and securing the set 6:4 without facing a break. However, the second set presented more challenges. Tomova fell behind 0:2 early on but made a strong comeback to lead 5:2. Despite dropping two match points on her own serve and being broken, Tomova displayed great character. She managed to force a tiebreak, where she led with 6-4 points and clinched the victory on her first match point, moving into the second round to face No. 11 Emma Navarro from the USA.

This achievement adds Tomova to the list of Bulgarian tennis players who have competed at the Olympic Games. She follows in the footsteps of Manuela Maleeva (1988, bronze medal), Katerina Maleeva (1988, 1992), Magdalena Maleeva (1992, 1996, 2004), Elena Pampoulova (1992), Tsvetana Pironkova (2008, 2012, 2016), and Grigor Dimitrov (2012, 2016).