Ekaterina Makarova and Vesnina were the reigning gold medalists from 2016, but Makarova retired from tennis in 2020.[1] Vesnina attempted to defend the title with Kudermetova, but they lost in the semifinals.
The competition was a single-elimination tournament with a bronze-medal match. Matches were best-of-3 sets, except that the third set is a match tiebreak (first to 10 points) instead of a typical set.[2] A tiebreak was played if one of the first two sets reaches 6–6.
This tournament marked the final appearance of former world No. 4 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands before her retirement. She partnered with Demi Schuurs; they lost in the second round to Kudermetova and Vesnina.
Schedule
The competition was held over nine days from 24 July to 1 August. Times given were the start of tennis sessions, though the women's doubles shared courts with other tennis events.[3]