Gold-medal favorite Iga Swiatek suffered a rare defeat at the site of Roland Garros, losing in straight sets to Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals of the Olympic Games.
This loss will be hard to swallow for Swiatek, who was playing at her favorite venue where she has won four French Open titles since 2020, including one less than two months ago. Despite entering the match with a commanding 6-0 head-to-head record over her opponent and a 38-2 career win-loss record on the site of these Games, the Pole bowed out to the sixth-seeded Chinese player 6-2 7-5.
Swiatek broke Zheng on her first opportunity in the first set but then began making numerous mistakes. Zheng won four straight games to take the set, as Swiatek piled up 16 unforced errors. The top seed started the second set strong with a 4-0 lead that included a love break, but mistakes crept back in as Zheng fought back to level the score at 4-4. Zheng eventually broke the gold-medal favorite three times in the second set, ultimately securing a famous upset.
Zheng’s previous two matches at the Paris Olympics were also epic: in the third round, she saved a match point in a grueling 3-hour and 12-minute win over American Emma Navarro, and then she ended the career of three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.
Swiatek will now compete for the bronze, while Zheng has made history as the first Chinese tennis player to reach the Olympic final and is guaranteed to be the country’s first medalist in tennis.
