Qinwen Zheng Reveals Mentality Before Becoming 1st Player to Beat Iga Swiatek in 4 Years at Roland Garros Last Olympics

Both Qinwen Zheng and Iga Swiatek are bidding to win their first title of the year after an incredible 2024 season.

Qinwen Zheng Reveals Mentality Before Becoming 1st Player to Beat Iga Swiatek in 4 Years at Roland Garros Last Olympics

Iga Swiatek, Qinwen Zheng (Image via X/The Athletic, The Tennis Letter)

Qinwen Zheng is the only player to beat Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros in four years. It was in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics that Zheng caused the biggest upset at the venue, before later beating Donna Vekic to become a gold medalist.

In the first set of her fourth-round match of the ongoing French Open, the three-time defending champion was no match for Elena Rybakina, who, according to the Pole, played like Men’s World No.1 Jannik Sinner. But Swiatek forced a comeback in the second set and after over two hours, she finally was able to secure a hard-fought win to book a spot in the quarterfinals.

Zheng, on the other hand, fended off Liudmila Samsonova in a grueling three-set battle that lasted nearly three hours. Following her match, Zheng, at the press conference, was asked about her mentality before she entered the semifinal of the Paris Olympics to play against heavy favorite Swiatek, who later took home the bronze medal.

I remember when I beat her…actually before entering the match, I said to myself, ‘This time I’m gonna get it.’ Because I just had the feeling. Obviously, she plays incredible. Last time, I remember how solid I was on court in that match. I almost didn’t give any easy mistakes. Just be there. My ball was really heavy. Playing aggressive at the same time. I felt my serve good that day.

Swiatek could meet Zheng in the semifinals, but before that, she will have to knock out Elina Svitolina, against whom she holds a 3-1 head-to-head lead. The 22-year-old too has a tough challenge ahead of her in the form of World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who she defeated before entering Roland Garros- in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.

It was, however, Zheng’s first win in seven matches against the three-time Grand Slam singles champion. Before scheduling the clash with Zheng in the last eight, the Belarusian had to tackle one of her most challenging opponents Amanda Anisimova, against whom, Sabalenka now holds a 3-5 head-to-head record.

Coco Gauff explains why she thinks Qinwen Zheng is different than other WTA players

Coco Gauff noticed, while playing her fourth-round opponent Marie Bouzkova, that the Czech ace was “bent over and tired“. But her own “heartbeat wasn’t really high“.

Qinwen Zheng
Qinwen Zheng (via X/The Tennis Letter)

The 2023 US Open champion took advantage of the situation, generating a lot of pace while playing the points. Gauff is confident about her physical strength and when she feels her opponents are a bit tired, then she starts to play more aggressively. According to her, this has worked almost against everyone, except Qinwen Zheng.

I think the person so far that has pushed me to that has definitely been Qinwen, we have played over three hours multiple times and she looks fine after the match and so do I; but other than that I don’t think there are many people I have played who have done three hours and looked fine after the match.

One of those lengthy matches they played before entering Roland Garros. Zheng, after knocking out Aryna Sabalenka in the Italian Open quarterfinals, had to toil hard in the semifinal against Gauff, playing two tie-breakers in the process.

Last year they met twice, and one of those matches was a three-set affair and could have ended in the favor of either player. Gauff holds a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head encounter over the Chinese ace, who she could meet in the final.

Zheng progressed to the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time in her career, becoming the first Chinese after 2011 champion Li Na to do so. Gauff had played the final in 2022, losing the match to Iga Swiatek.

Also read: (Video) Aryna Sabalenka Gatecrashes Novak Djokovic’s Interview on TNT Sports at Roland Garros