Paris Olympics 2024: Qinwen Zheng hands Iga Swiatek first defeat at Roland Garros after 1149 days

Iga Swiatek has lost her first match on Stade Roland Garros since 2021.

Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek has been eliminated from Paris Olympics 2024 semifinals by China’s Qinwen Zheng. Seeded sixth, Zheng stunned the WTA World No. #1 to reach the final of the Paris Games in straight sets.

Iga Swiatek started her campaign in Paris with comfortable wins over Irina-Camelia Begu, Diane Parry, and Xiyu Wang in straight sets. Against the United States’ Danielle Collins, she lost a set. However, Collins eventually had to retire from the match due to an injury.

Meanwhile, Qinwen Zheng recorded a few stellar victories over the likes of Angelique Kerber, Emma Navarro, Sara Errani, and Arantxa Rus. She also indulged in controversy against Navarro, where the two also had a heated confrontation.

Nevertheless, the 2024 Australian Open runner-up faced her biggest challenge, Iga Swiatek, on the Pole’s preferred surface in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics. The WTA World No. 1 was unbeaten at Stade Roland Garros since 2021, where Maria Sakkari defeated her.

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Additionally, this year, she won the Madrid Open, the Italian Open, and Roland Garros by winning 19 consecutive matches on the tour. Facing Zheng, she looked dull and made multiple unforced errors. The World No. 7 picked up the first set against Swiatek 6-2, converting three break points.

In the second set, she got improved competition from a five-time Grand Slam champion. However, it wasn’t sufficient to win over Zheng.

The Chinese tennis star smashed six aces, scored 15 winners, and made 13 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Swiatek scored only two aces, 13 winners but made 36 unforced errors. The five-time Grand Slam champion played better on the net but fumbled numerous times from the baseline.

With the win, the 21-year-old has confirmed a podium finish for her at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has become the first Chinese tennis player to reach an Olympic singles final. In the final, she will face either the 2024 Wimbledon Championships semi-finalist Donna Vekic or Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

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