Paris 2024 tennis: Zheng shocks Swiatek for shot at gold as Djokovic and Alcaraz move closer to dream Olympic final
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are one step away from a dream Olympic final but Zheng Qinwen stole the show at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Thursday, 1 August.
Zheng of the People’s Republic of China produced the performance of her career, beating ‘Queen of Clay’ Iga Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 for a shot at Olympic gold.
Zheng’s historic rout of world No.1 Swiatek sent her into the final of the women’s singles tournament, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to make it this far at the Olympics.
She has now improved on the previous-best result, which she shared with two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na. Li reached the last four at Beijing 2008 before she was ousted in the bronze-medal match.
“I’ve always envisioned this moment. I have been looking forward to Paris 2024 and mentioned it back in 2022,” Zheng told Olympics.com.
“However, anticipation is one thing and achieving it is another. I am incredibly proud to have created this historic moment. I understand that the journey is far from over, but please allow me to savour this victory moment.”
Guaranteed a medal with her appearance in the final, Zheng will go home as China’s most successful tennis player ever at the Olympics.
Zheng has been a revelation at her first Olympic Games, showing dogged determination en route to the women’s singles final. She prevailed in two back-to-back three-hour matches, including an exhausting marathon contest against three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals.
“When I lay down and looked up at the sky, I shouted in triumph. It’s truly indescribable how thrilled I am right now,” Zheng said.
“I defeated the world No. 1. The player who has been reigning champion at Roland-Garros for years. This journey has not been easy. Additionally, having played over six hours on court in the past few days, and spending around eight hours on court within three days, I felt like I was driven by sheer determination.”
Zheng will face Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the women’s singles final on Saturday, 3 August for a shot at Olympic gold. Vekic was on fire in her semi-final, defeating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4, 6-0.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic on a collision course
A new Olympic men’s singles champion will be crowned after defending champion Alexander Zverev suffered a 7-5, 7-5 defeat at the hands of Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti.
Spanish sensation Alcaraz had some nervous moments in his quarter-final contest against Tommy Paul of the United States but survived the onslaught to reach the semis.
Alcaraz broke Paul in the sixth game to take the first set with relative ease and looked on course for a straight-sets win.
But Paul denied the Spaniard easy passage as he won the first three games of the second set to put Alcaraz on notice.
Alcaraz clawed his way back in the ninth game, recovering the break with a booming forehand winner down the line and past the American before putting the set back on level terms.
Paul enforced the tiebreaker, with the Spaniard finding the edge to claim a 6-3, 7-6 win for a shot at reaching the Olympics final on debut.
Top-seed Djokovic got one step closer to adding the one missing piece of silverware to his collection - the Olympic gold medal. The Serb beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets (6-3, 7-6) to make it into the semi-finals at Stade Roland-Garros.
Holding the record of 24 Grand Slams and a bronze medal from Beijing 2008, Djokovic will be hell-bent on adding the Olympic title to his name.
A victory for Djokovic and Alcaraz in their respective semis would set the stage for a rematch of this year’s Wimbledon final where the Spaniard came out on top for a second consecutive year.
But before that, Djokovic would have to navigate past Musetti while Alcaraz will face Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in his last-four clash.