Not many saw this coming… In quite an upset at the Paris 2024 Olympics, China’s Zheng Qinwen defeated World No. 1, and the top favorite to win Olympic gold, Iga Swiatek in the women’s tennis semifinals. The match, held on the clay courts of Roland Garros, saw Zheng overpower the top seed, ending with a scoreline of 6-2, 7-5.
Swiatek, known for her dominance on clay, especially at Roland Garros where she has multiple French Open titles, struggled to find her rhythm against Zheng’s aggressive and smart play. Zheng, ranked 7th in the world, looked solid throughout and and managed to take full advantage of Swiatek’s uncharacteristic errors and gave her the first loss at Roland Garros since 2021 (!)
SHE'S DONE IT! ?
— ITF (@ITFTennis) August 1, 2024
Zheng Qinwen defeats World No.1 Iga Swiatek 6-2 7-5 to reach the Olympic women's singles final!#Paris2024 | #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/maoQWSZdOS
Iga uncomfortable
In the first set we saw the Australian Open runner-up Zheng in full control and Swiatek was never really in the match at all. In the tough conditions with the hot and humid air, the top seed looked uncomfortable and we hardly ever saw her miss her shots by those margins.
After speeding up to a 4-0 lead in the second set, with dictating play and confident forehands, we thought the old Iga was back. However, after this the errors came back and Zheng, once again, took full advantage and turned the game around.
For those of you betting on the Olympics, a wager on Zheng paid almost 7 times the money and it shows what an achievement this victory was.
Zheng to the final
Big congrats to Zheng Qinwen that played a great match, and was very cool in the important points throughout. However, it was the errors from Swiatek that most fans will talk about.
The Pole had 36 unforced errors in the semi-final, and just 12 winners, while we saw much more balanced stats for Zheng, with 13 unforced errors and 14 winners.
Zheng will now prepare for the big final in the weekend where she will face Donna Vekic or Anna Karolina Schiedlova. This also means she will get China its first singles medal in Olympic tennis (since tennis returned to the Olympic Games in 1988.) For all the tennisnerds, here you can check out the racquet specs of Zheng Qinwen.
Iga Swiatek will try to re-group for the bronze medal match.
