Qinwen Zheng upsets Iga Swiatek in Paris Olympics semifinals to become first-ever women’s player from China to advance to final
Swiatek said the Olympic schedule and stress played a role in her performance.
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Iga Swiatek, Qinwen Zheng (Images via Imago)
Qinwen Zheng reached her first Olympics final with a three-set victory over World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinal on Thursday (August 1). Swiatek, who was eyeing her fourth victory on clay this season, was denied another title when Zheng won the match 6-2, 7-5.
The match wasn’t what most expected, for Swiatek, who was the favorite, looked helpless in the first set. She was able to win only two games.
The Pole then made a terrific comeback in the second set and won four games on the trot. Zheng, however, did not miss the chance to capitalize on her first-set lead. She displayed her fighting spirit to force a comeback and soon, after a long seventh game of the second set, she finally equaled the score 4-4 and did not look back.
Swiatek tried everything she could and was not ready to give up, but in the end, the Chinese prevailed over her, and became the first player from her country to reach the final of the Olympics in tennis.
Before the semifinals, the 21-year-old Chinese played two three-set matches, in the third round and the quarterfinals, against Emma Navarro and former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber, respectively. Swiatek on the other hand, was given a walkover by Danielle Collins in the quarterfinals. It was the only three-set match she played in the Olympics.
Iga Swiatek blamed stress and schedule for her defeat to Qinwen Zheng
Iga Swiatek feels the Olympic schedule and stress were the reasons why she suffered so badly. She made a total of 36 unforced errors against Qinwen Zheng‘s 15.
I had a hole in my backhand. It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid stroke. I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that.Iga Swiatek told Eurosport Poland
The defeat did not end Swiatek’s Olympic run as she has the chance to win the bronze medal. She is set to face the loser of the second semifinal match between Croatia’s Donna Vekic and Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the bronze medal match.
Swiatek has won five titles this season, including her fourth French Open. Before lifting her third back-to-back trophy in the French Open, Swiatek won the final of the Madrid Open and Italian Open as well.
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Gouri Das
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