Zheng stuns Swiatek in straight sets to reach Olympic Games final

By Sports Desk August 01, 2024

Zheng Qinwen pulled off a major upset with a superb straight-sets win over world number one Iga Swiatek to reach the Olympic Games final.

The sixth seed took one hour and 50 minutes to get a 6-2 7-5 win on Court Philippe Chatrier, earning her first-ever win over Swiatek.

Zheng's last two matches have both lasted three hours, but there was no sign of tiredness as she quickly stated her intent.

An early break each had the players level at 2-2, but Swiatek lost her next two serves as well, with Zheng taking advantage of her uncharacteristic mistakes to take the first set after a four-game winning run. 

The Pole looked back to her usual best at the start of the second, racing into a 4-0 lead before stumbling again as Zheng's aggressive approach saw her claw back to level 4-4.

The reigning French Open champion then had no answers after edging in front again, losing her serve once more as Zheng won the final three games to book her place in the Olympics final.

She will play either Croatia's Donna Vekic or Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova for the gold medal, while Swiatek could still take bronze.

Data Debrief: Zheng ends Swiatek's Roland-Garros run

Swiatek was the favourite to take the gold medal at the Olympics, especially considering her 20-match winning run on clay heading into the semi-finals.

Not only that, but she was unbeaten at Roland-Garros for 1,149 days, winning 25 consecutive matches, along with a 47-4 completed sets record during that span.

But, the five-time grand slam winner had no answers for Zheng on Thursday, who prevailed for the first time in seven meetings against Swiatek.

Related items

  • 'Not my goal at all' - Djokovic not committing to ATP Finals appearance 'Not my goal at all' - Djokovic not committing to ATP Finals appearance

    Novak Djokovic "can't say" if he will compete in the upcoming ATP Finals in November as he becomes more selective about which tournaments he participates in.

    The Serbian has struggled with injuries and a lack of form in 2024, and he will finish a calendar year without a grand slam title for the first time since 2017.

    His last major triumph came at the US Open last year, but he failed to defend his crown, suffering a shock early exit to Alexei Popyrin in the third round at Flushing Meadows.

    Djokovic is just one grand slam trophy away from becoming the outright record holder, currently sitting level with Margaret Court on 24 titles.

    He reached the Wimbledon final in July, only to lose out to Carlos Alcaraz, though he did win his first Olympic gold in Paris by beating the Spaniard the following month.

    The 37-year-old is currently representing Serbia at the Davis Cup and stressed that he will be prioritising certain tournaments over others.

    "Torino is not my goal at all, to be honest, I am not chasing ATP Finals, I am not chasing the rankings etc," he told Serbian reporters after beating Greece's Ioannis Xilas on Saturday.

    "As far as I am concerned, I am done with those tournaments for my career. Whether I will play other tournaments this year or in the future, I can't say right now.

    "My main priorities are playing for the national team and slams, everything else is less important.

    "Weeks like these represent another motivation, they inspire me to keep going, they awake those butterflies in my belly.

    "I thought that I would never have to seek motivation anywhere, it all used to come naturally – automatically – but that has not been the case in the last few years.

    "In order to prolong my career, I need to enjoy, I need to choose wisely tournaments I am going to play."

    Following the Davis Cup, Djokovic will play in an exhibition tournament in Sofia and in the ATP 1000 event in Shanghai at the start of October.

    "After that [Shanghai], I am going to see what I am going to do," Djokovic added.

    "Usually in my career I used to have my schedule ready six months in advance, but nowadays, that's not the case. Now it's more spontaneous.

    "Firstly, I need to physically, emotionally and mentally rest in order to even start thinking what I want to do next, in what way, how much and where."

  • Djokovic keeps Serbia on track as Ruud seals Norway win Djokovic keeps Serbia on track as Ruud seals Norway win

    Novak Djokovic marked his return to action with a dominant 6-0 6-1 victory over Greece's Ioannis Xilas to put Serbia in control of the Davis Cup tie. 

    The 24-time major winner was playing his first match since his US Open third-round defeat by Alexei Popyrin at Flushing Meadows a fortnight ago.

    And Djokovic, who helped his nation win the Davis Cup in 2010, looked close to his best as he dropped just a single game, while converting five of the seven break points he forced.

    Wrapping up a dominant victory in just 45 minutes, he put Serbia 2-0 to the good in the World Group I tie.

    Elsewhere in that group, Casper Ruud helped Norway wrap up a 3-1 win over Portugal.

    The three-time major finalist, who put his nation 2-1 to the good alongside Viktor Durasovic in the doubles rubber, was a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victor over Jaime Faria in their singles clash.

    Later in the day, Argentina booked their place in the final eight after Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni saw off Finland in the doubles decider.

  • Tullis-Joyce expects more success from USA under Hayes Tullis-Joyce expects more success from USA under Hayes

    Phallon Tullis-Joyce is excited by the job Emma Hayes has already done with the United States and predicts she will have even more success in the role.

    Hayes left Chelsea after 12 years in charge in May, going out on a high after leading the Blues to a fifth consecutive Women's Super League triumph on the final day of last season.

    It was her seventh title overall with Chelsea, also winning five FA Cups and two League Cups, as well as leading the team to the Champions League final in 2020-21.

    Hayes began her tenure as the USA boss in May and helped the team to a record-extending fifth Olympic gold in Paris, as an undefeated tournament ended with a 1-0 win over Brazil in August.

    Having made such a bright start to life with the USWNT, Tullis-Joyce, who has never played for her national team, is expecting great things from Hayes.

    Speaking at the Barclays WSL's 2024-25 season launch media day, the goalkeeper told Stats Perform: "I think that's incredible for US soccer to have such a notable coach.

    "Everyone has seen how great she's done in this league alone, and I'm excited to see what she does with the US Women's National Team.

    "She's already done an amazing job, so I can imagine she's going to do so many more great things for time to come, especially for the younger generations."

    One of the players who did not feature at the Olympics for the USWNT was Alex Morgan, who recently announced her retirement from football.

    Morgan, regarded as a USA legend, is one of the most decorated players in the history of the team, winning back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019 and clinching Olympic gold in 2012.

    She is ninth on the all-time appearance charts having earned 224 caps, and since her international debut in March 2010, no player has been involved in more goals for the USA than her (175, 123 goals, 52 assists).

    Tullis-Joyce was full of praise for the former striker and explained how she drove her to improve after coming up against her.

    "Just massive respect for Alex Morgan, she's definitely a player that I've looked up to as an American," Tullis-Joyce said.

    "She was one of the ones that we saw on the national team constantly just shredding goalkeepers left and right.

    "Honestly, I'm learning from her how to protect my goal a little bit better. I had the fortunate opportunity to play against her several times.

    "Honestly, she just seems like such a great person. And I wish her all the best in her retirement, especially after what she's done for women's football."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.