Iga Swiatek lost to Zheng Qinwen of China 6-2, 7-5 in the Paris Olympics semifinals Thursday, a surprising setback for the No. 1-ranked woman and champion at the French Open four of the past five years.
The result was hard to predict for several reasons. Swiatek entered the day with a 6-0 edge in their head-to-head matchups. She has led the WTA rankings for nearly every week since April 2022, while Zheng is No. 7. Plus, just when Swiatek appeared to be getting back into the match with a 4-0 lead in the second set, she faltered.
The really stunning part? Swiatek is as good as it gets on red clay and at this particular place. The 23-year-old from Poland has been dominant at Roland Garros, the facility used for the annual French Open and the site for tennis during these Summer Games.
Zheng, 21, who was the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January, assured China of its first singles medal in Olympic tennis since the sport returned to the Games in 1988.
In Saturday’s gold medal match, Zheng will face 13th-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia or unseeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia, who were scheduled to face each other Thursday night at Court Philippe Chatrier.
Vekic eliminated No. 2 Coco Gauff, the 20-year-old American who is the reigning US Open champion, in the third round.
Swiatek’s career dominance against Zheng included a victory in the same stadium during the fourth round of the 2022 French Open. Zheng also took the first set of that one, the only set dropped by Swiatek during that event.
Things have not quite gone as smoothly this week.
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