Fans in disbelief as Qinwen Zheng sinks ‘favorite’ Iga Swiatek to reach final at Paris Olympics

Swiatek's 25-win streak at the Roland Garros also came to an end after defeat to Zheng.

Fans in disbelief as Qinwen Zheng sinks ‘favorite’ Iga Swiatek to reach final at Paris Olympics

Iga Swiatek, Qinwen Zheng (Images via Imago)

On Thursday (August 1), tennis fans saw Iga Swiatek succumbed to a straight-set defeat at the Paris Olympics. Swiatek was the heavy favorite to win the tournament but had no answer in front of China’s Qinwen Zheng who emerged victorious with scores of 6-2, 7-5.

That the 23-year-old Pole would lose the match, that too in straight sets on the red dirt of Roland Garros in an hour and 51 minutes, was not something anyone imagined. Before this clash, Zheng had lost all six matches against Swiatek.

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With this win, the 21-year-old became the first-ever Chinese to secure a berth in an Olympic summit clash. Zheng set up the clash with Swiatek after ending former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber‘s career in a thrilling quarterfinal contest which the Chinese won with a scoreline of 6-7(4-7), 6-4, 7-6(8-6). Even Emma Navarro gave Zheng a tough competition in the third round but the latter held her nerves and pulled off the victory 6-7(7-9), 7-6(7-4), 6-1.

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Swiatek’s 25-win streak at the Roland Garros also came to an end. Before beating the Pole, Zheng became the second Chinese to reach an Olympic semifinal after Li Na who achieved it at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Though Li failed to take a medal back home, Zheng has been assured of at least a silver medal.

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Fans react as Iga Swiatek loses Roland Garros match to Qinwen Zheng

Fans are not ready to accept yet that Iga Swiatek suffered a straight-set defeat at Roland Garros. But they are also in awe of Qinwen Zheng as she has been playing some high-quality matches in this Olympics.

Qinwen Zheng, Iga Swiatek (2)
Qinwen Zheng, Iga Swiatek (Images via Imago)

Check out how the fans reacted:

Zheng is now waiting for the second semifinal match between Donna Vekic and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, scheduled to take place on Thursday (August 1). Zheng met Vekic twice so far — at the Courmayeur Open in 2021 and Zhuhai Open in 2023 — and the head-t0-head is tied at 1-1. If Schmiedlova wins the second semifinal, she will lock horns with Zheng for the first time.

Zheng has the chance to add a prestigious title to her trophy cabinet. Earlier this year, she came very close to winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open but lost to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in the final.

Swiatek is playing her second Olympics, having participated at the 2020 Tokyo Games in both singles and mixed doubles. Her campaign then ended on a disappointing note as she lost the singles to Paula Badosa in the second round and her mixed doubles run ended in the quarterfinals. She was set to play the mixed doubles in Paris too until Hubert Hurkacz pulled out of the event due to injury.

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