Women’s top tennis player Iga Swiatek suffered a semifinal loss on Thursday, after China’s Zheng Qinwen crushed Swiatek, 6-2, 7-5, in a straight-set symphony.
Clay court connoisseur Swiatek was caught off her game, when determined sixth seed Zheng shocked the tournament in an electric tennis match.
Clay poses a problem for many of the Game’s most elite, and effortlessly whittles away the normal power and speed in which a strong baseline player can blast a forehand down the line. The clay spring swing often sees the game’s best backcourt blasters reduced to an act of attrition: swinging away ‘til the low and fast grass season comes into focus.
Conventional wisdom posed that if anyone was going to take home a gold medal on clay, it would be Swiatek. The No. 1 seed has captured four of her five Grand Slam titles at the French Open, her most recent win came in May and Chatrier Court has become her reigning kingdom.
But her kingdom came crumbling down around her on Thursday.
In the pair’s six previous meetings, Swiatek has only dropped one set to Zheng. Quickly, one became two after they started their quarterfinal bout. Zheng took Set 1 in 43 minutes, only losing two games to Swiatek.
After taking the first set, Zheng returned to the court in high spirits, and emphatically pointed to the China flag on her tennis kit, a reminder why she was leaving it all out there today.
Swiatek knows how to battle back and attempted to do so in set No. 2. She broke Zheng twice to turn the tide and go up 4-0. But Zheng wasn’t ready to surrender, and returned those two breaks that Swiatek previously gifted right back. The two finally caught up at 5-all, and Swiatek couldn’t rein in her unforced errors, and gave up the game on a faulty forehand. Running with that one-game lead, Zheng finished the match by breaking Swiatek once more, and collapsed on the ground after securing her first Olympic final spot. Swiatek's 25-game Olympic tennis winning streak reign has finally come to a close.
"I'm so happy that I can make this history for Chinese tennis," Zheng told the media after her victory. "I always wanted to be one of the athletes who can get a medal for China, for our country, and right now I'm one of them.
"But I know the fight is not over. It's not the end. The tennis tournament is very long. I'm I'm really happy but at the same time I'm waiting for more."
I've made history already but I don't want to stop here.
Zheng next play on Saturday, when the 21-year-old will attempt to become the first Chinese player to capture an Olympic gold medal in tennis. No matter the result of the final, Zheng has already changed the game's history, as she is guaranteed to become the first Chinese tennis singles player to win a medal at the Olympics.