2024 Paris Olympics: Qinwen Zheng stuns Iga Swiatek in semis
What's the story
Qinwen Zheng has reached the women's singles tennis final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. China's Zheng stunned world number one Iga Swiatek in straight sets. Zheng won the contest 6-2, 7-5. With this win, Zheng has assured herself a gold or silver medal. Meanwhile, Swiatek, who was deemed the favorite to win here, will be vying for a bronze medal next. Here's more.
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Zheng fights from 0-4 down in second set
Zheng was off and running and maintained her composure to win the first set by a 6-2 margin. In the second set, Swiatek was off the blocks quickly and took a 4-0 lead. However, she lost control as Zheng pulled off a miracle.
51-6
Swiatek suffers her sixth defeat on the WTA Tour
Swiatek has won three successive French Open honors here at Roland Garros and four overall. She holds a 35-2 win-loss record. This made her the favorite to bag the gold in Paris. However, with this defeat, Swiatek is now 51-6 on the WTA Tour this season, having won five titles. Swiatek suffered her maiden defeat versus Zheng. She owned a 6-0 record before this.
Clay
23-match unbeaten run ends; 25-2 record on clay this season
Swiatek saw her 23-match unbeaten run come to an end on clay this season. She had won titles in Madrid, Rome and Paris respectively alongside claiming 19 match wins. Thereafter, she won four matches at the 2024 Paris Olympics before this defeat. Swiatek is 25-2 on clay this season. She won two matches before a semi-final defeat at the Stuttgart Open.
Do you know?
Swiatek was unbeaten at Roland Garros for 1,149 days
As per Opta, Swiatek was unbeaten at Roland Garros for a total of 1,149 days, winning 25 consecutive matches, along with a 47-4 completed sets record and claiming 10 sets by a score of 6-0 over that span.
Zheng
Zheng scripts history at the Olympics
Zheng is now the first Asian-born player to reach a women's or men's Singles final at the Olympics. She is also the first to defeat the number one ranked WTA player on clay, since the rankings were first published in 1975. Zheng is 29-12 on the WTA Tour this season. She has pocketed one title.
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Here are the match stats
Zheng outsmarted Swiatek in terms of aces 6-2. Swiatek committed five double faults compared to her opponent's three. Swiatek earned 10 winners. However, the 36 unforced errors proved to be fatal for Swiatek.