Women's singles final
The red iconic clay court of Roland-Garros will dust up on Saturday at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games women's singles final. But as the court clears and the dust settles, an everlasting winner will emerge, forever carved into the history of Olympic tennis.
Zheng Qinwen of China and Donna Vekic of Croatia will brawl for the gold medal. Both women are contending to become the first player from their respective nations to win an Olympic gold medal in singles.
Both women have already had an unexpected, if not incredible, Olympics while taking down the biggest names in the women's game.
No. 13 seed Vekic dismissed the No. 2 seed Coco Gauff in a shocking Round 2 straight-sets win. While a certain line call in the Gauff match caused some controversy, Vekic didn't let it dismantle her game. She went on to oust the No 12 seed, Marta Kostyuk, in a three-set scuffle.
Vekic's 2024 has seen deep runs but no glory. She made it to the third round at Roland-Garros, and the semifinals at Wimbledon, but has not captured a singular title all year.
Vekic's Olympic final run has been Croatia's best performance in women's singles at the Games.
Zheng secured her spot in the women's final after she stunned the tournament and beat Iga Swiatek, the Queen of Clay, in her very own kingdom at Roland-Garros in the women's semifinal. Zheng's 2024 has been more successful than her final opponent's: She was the runner-up at the Australian Open in January, reached the quarterfinals at Dubai and Rome, and took the title at Palermo. Zheng also has time on her side — she is seven years junior to Vekic.
But the clay court can be an unexpected equalizer, and both are tied for a Round of 16 career-best run at the French Open.
America promised a medal in men's doubles
O say can you see an Olympic medal in America's horizon. The U.S. has two American men's doubles teams in contention for Olympic medals.
Leading the red, white and blue charge is the No. 4 seeds, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek. The pair will spar with Australia's Matt Ebden and John Peers in the gold medal final. The U.S. tandem has had an eventful tournament, and notably dismissed the superstar team of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
Following them, the two top American men, Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz will take on Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of Czechia in the bronze medal final. The Czechs are competing for their country's second medal at the Paris tennis tournament, as Machac and mixed doubles partner Katerina Siniakova took home the gold medal on Friday.