Aryna Sabalenka left surprised by women’s singles results at 2024 Paris Olympics as she expected Iga Swiatek to win Gold

Aryna Sabalenka has been surprised to see that Iga Swiatek did not win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Aryna Sabalenka left surprised by women’s singles results at 2024 Paris Olympics as she expected Iga Swiatek to win Gold

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (Images via Imago)

Belarusian tennis ace Aryna Sabalenka expressed surprise at Iga Swiatek not winning the Gold medal in the women’s singles category at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She said that she expected the Polish ace to win the ultimate prize in Paris because of her history on those clay courts.

However, Swiatek was denied a chance to win the gold medal as Qinwen Zheng defeated her in the semifinal. Nevertheless, the World No. 1 won the bronze medal, beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. With this win, she won the first Olympic medal for her country in tennis.

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While Swaitek was happy about this, not winning the gold medal must have hurt her. She walked into the tournament as the ultimate favorite and with Aryna Sabalenka pulling out and Coco Gauff bowing out in the third round, the chances of her winning the gold increased further.

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But it was not meant to be. This left everyone, including Sabalenka, surprised. 

I don't want to say something bad about the players. Honestly, of course, I expected Iga to win a gold medal. It's Paris. That's her place. That's what my expectation was. But girls are playing incredible tennis. I think this final going to be really cool to watch.
Aryna Sabalenka said

While Sabalenka has said that she has been following the Olympics, the Belarusian ace promised to watch the final between Zheng and Donna Vekic.

Aryna Sabalenka reaches semifinals at Citi Open

Away from Paris, Aryna Sabalenka has reached the semifinals at the 2024 Citi Open. She defeated compatriot Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals to book herself a clash against Marie Bouzkova, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over wild card Robin Montgomery on Saturday (August 3).

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Via Imago)

Sabalenka defeated 35-year-old Azarenka 6-4, 6-4. The former World No.1 hit eight aces and won 30 of 39 first-serve points. What made the difference in the match was Azarenka losing 18 of her 22 second serves. Her serve was also broken four times.

With this win, Sabalenka extended her lead in the head-to-head record to 5-1. The two-time singles Grand Slam champion will be looking to book a spot in the final where she will meet either her friend Paula Badosa or Caroline Doelhide.

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