By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Zheng Qinwen of China pulled off the biggest upset in the ongoing Paris Olympics women’s tennis event so far after ousting world no. 1 Iga Swiatek during their semifinal clash- 6.2, 7.5- on August 1, 2024.
Hailed as the queen of the French Open for almost five years now, Swiatek was the heavy favorite to win the Olympic gold medal after winning four grand slam titles in the same venue since 2020.
However, the Chinese bet had other plans and stunned Paris with a performance for the ages after sweeping Swiatek in two straight sets.
To make things more interesting, Qinwen headed to her seventh head-to-head matchup with Swiatek without a single win, going for 0-6 in their last six Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) duels.
The Chinese bet then just ended her losing streak against Swiatek and did it in the most prestigious sporting event of the world, on the pet surface of the reigning world no. 1 female tennis player.
Qinwen kicked off her majestic outing after quickly scoring a breakpoint that derailed Swiatek’s goal of starting the semifinal game strong.
Now behind in the score due to her costly service possession, the world no. 7 ranked Chinese just steamrolled her way in the opener to clinch a dominant 6-2 win.
The more experienced clay court player fought back in the following set, playing a more cautious approach as she stayed behind the baseline and tallied most of her points during the rally exchanges.
Despite the come-from-behind effort, Qinwen still found a way to edge Swiatek and banked on her consistent service game to put the no.1 seed on her heels.
The Chinese then ended the match in style after scoring impressive net points while holding another service possession to get a shot at the Olympic gold medal in this year’s Paris Global games.
