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Zheng Qinwen Shocks World No. 1 Iga Swiatek to Reach Olympic Gold-Medal Match

PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 01: Iga Swiatek of Team Poland reacts following defeat against Qinwen Zheng of People’s Republic of China during the Women’s Singles Semi-final match on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Roland Garros on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Rising to historic heights, Zheng Qinwen fell flat on her back and pumped her fist in pure elation.

Even when she was down, Zheng was flying high today.

Facing a 0-4 second-set deficit, Zheng roared through seven of the last eight games shocking Polish world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 in today’s Paris Olympics semifinals.

Playing with poise and power, Zheng made history reaching the gold-medal match in her Olympic debut.

The 21-year-old Zheng is the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic final and she snapped Swiatek’s 25-match Roland Garros winning streak to do it.

The sixth-seeded Chinese will play 13th-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic for the Olympic gold medal.

On her second match point, Wimbledon semifinalist Vekic slammed her sixth ace down the T stomping surprise Slovakian semifinalist Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4, 6-0.

A revitalized Vekic, who conceded she considered pulling out of Roland Garros and taking a break from the game in May, cracked 26 winners against 13 errors in a 65-minute rout.

It was Vekic’s 13th victory in her last 15 matches.

It’s been an arduous journey to reach the final and Zheng has shown strength and stamina along the way.

“That was unexplainable because everyone knows how I want to get this medal for my country,” Zheng told Peacock’s Britney Eurton afterward. “Since 2022, I’ve already been hoping for the 2024 Olympic Games. So you can imagine every match I had how much pressure I had and how much sacrifice I needed to do on court—especially back to back—I don’t know, maybe eight hours in three days.

“And to beat the world No. 1 here—that’s unbelievable. I feel that makes my journey more meaningful because I always want to play against the best players and beat them. I always feel that’s what I want to show for my tennis.”

Four-time French Open champion Swiatek suffered her first loss on Roland Garros’ red clay since Maria Sakkari beat her 6-4, 6-4 in the 2021 Roland Garros quarterfinals.

Since that defeat, Swiatek has surged through 25 consecutive victories in Paris—21 straight Roland Garros victories, including three straight Roland Garros championships, and four Olympic wins—before it all came to a stunning end today though the Pole will still play for the bronze medal.

Though Swiatek carried a 6-0 career record over Zheng onto court today, the Chinese had pushed the Pole to three sets at the 2022 Roland Garros. Today, Zheng pushed Swiatek all over the court at times.

Beating Swiatek in lateral running rallies, Zheng deconstructed the five-time Grand Slam champion on the Court Philippe Chatrier red clay she regards as her home away from home.