PARIS– Iga Swiatek lost to Zheng Qinwen of China 6-2, 7-5 in the Paris Olympics semifinals on Thursday, a surprising setback for the number 1 ranked woman and champion in French Open four of the last five years.
The outcome was difficult to predict for several reasons. Swiatek entered the day with a 6-0 head-to-head advantage. She has topped the WTA rankings almost every week since April 2021, while Zheng is ranked 7th. Furthermore, just when Swiatek appeared to be coming back into the match with a 4-0 lead in the second set, she faltered.
The really impressive part? Swiatek is the best he can be on red clay and in this place in particular. The 23-year-old Pole has dominated Roland Garros, the venue used for the annual French Open and tennis venue during the Summer Games.
The 21 year old Zhenrunner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January gave China its first Olympic tennis singles medal since the sport returned to the Games in 1988.
In Saturday’s gold medal match, Zheng will face 13th-ranked Donna Vekic of Croatia or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia, who were due to meet on Thursday night at Court Philippe Chatrier.
Vekic eliminated second place Coco Gauffthe 20-year-old American who is the current third-round US Open champion.
The clashes in Thursday’s men’s quarterfinals were Novak Djokovic of Serbia vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, and Tokyo Games champion Alexander Zverev of Germany vs. Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the top half of the draw; Carlos Alcaraz of Spain vs. Tommy Paul of the USA, and Casper Ruud of Norway vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the bottom half.
Swiatek’s dominance against Zheng included a victory in the same stadium during the fourth round of the 2022 French Open. Zheng also won the first set of that one, the only set lost by Swiatek in that event.
Things didn’t go so well this week.
In the quarterfinals, Wednesday, Swiatek was forced to three sets and was left winded when she was hit by a ball from her opponent Danielle Collins’ racket, who ended up withdrawing from the match because of a stomach muscle injury. Afterwards, Collins, an American, gave Swiatek a lecture about being “insincere” when they spoke in court.
Surprisingly, perhaps, it was Zheng who struck first, capitalizing on three unforced errors from Swiatek, including a late double fault, to take a 2-1 lead. That lead, such as it was, lasted five minutes, because Swiatek – supported by cheers accompanied by claps of “Iga! Iga!” – returned to 2-all.
But then Zheng, with his big serve and big clicking groundstrokes, began to make the most of Swiatek’s many misses and made it four games in a row.
After that set, Swiatek draped a white towel over his shoulders, grabbed his equipment bag and headed to the locker room to take a break, which is permitted in tennis. Perhaps the break allowed her to recalibrate. Perhaps it caused Zheng to lose focus. Whatever the case, the entire complexion of the match changed immediately.
When the game resumed, it was Swiatek who was at his best again, hitting strong and confident forehands, dictating points. A double fault from Zheng gave Swiatek a 4-0 lead in the second set. Still, Zheng didn’t concede anything and suddenly it was 4-4.
When it ended, thanks to a shot that Zheng hit close to the line but Swiatek thought she fell, the winner fell on her back, covering it with clay.
___
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
