MARSEILLE, France — World number one Iga Swiatek said she “messed up” and could not hold back the tears after a shock loss to China’s Zheng Qinwen in the Olympic semi-finals at Roland Garros.
Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the singles semi-finals at a Summer Games since Novak Djokovic in 2008 by getting past Tommy Paul of the US 6-3, 7-6 (7) at the Paris Olympics.
The Pole, who was on a 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros, was a clear favourite to win the gold medal after a third consecutive French Open title this year.
“I had a hole in my backhand,” she told Eurosport Poland. “It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid stroke.”
Swiatek held a 6-0 career record against Zheng, but the 23-year-old claycourt specialist produced one of her worst displays of the season, making 36 unforced errors against her opponent’s 15.
The five-time Grand Slam champion blamed stress and a lack of time between matches for her performance.
“I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn´t have time to adjust that and work on that,” Swiatek said according to Reuters.
“I know that´s not the justification but I tried to correct that during the match. Today it didn´t work at all. So she used that to win the game,” she said
Swiatek refused to take questions from international reporters after the match. “Sorry, next time,” she said.
It has been a tough week for Swiatek who was hit by a ball in her quarter-final win over Danielle Collins on Wednesday.
Collins accused the Pole of being “insincere” after the American abandoned the match due to stomach pain.
Collins blamed her injury on the lack of fresh water on the courts, which she said provoked heat stress and convulsions, amid extremely hot weather.
Zheng managed to make it happen, eliminating Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 and earning the right to play for gold on Saturday, then falling on her back and caking her red-and-yellow uniform with the rust-colored clay.
“It really does mean everything. I always knew I could do it. But it´s different (if) you know you can – and you show it. And, I really showed it,” said the 21-year-old Zheng, whose best career result was reaching the final of the Australian Open in January before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
“I´m so proud of myself,” she added. “I´m so proud for my country.”
It’s not clear what Swiatek thought about the way the day went.
That’s because she skipped any questions from print reporters in the mixed zone area for interviews. Her face flushed and eyes red, Swiatek did not break stride as she passed journalists, saying only: “Sorry. Next time.”
The outcome between Swiatek and Zheng was hard to foresee, given their head-to-head record entering the day and other factors. Swiatek has led the WTA rankings for nearly every week since April 2022, while Zheng is No. 7.
Plus, Swiatek appeared to be getting back into the match with a 4-0 lead in the second set.
Maybe until now, Zheng acknowledged, she wouldn’t have been able to turn that deficit around.
“Before, when I´m at this stage, I’d let the match go. I’d say, `OK, I lose the second set; let´s fight for the third set.´ But, no. I didn´t use this mentality,” she explained.
“I said: `I´m just going to fight every single point. Let´s see what´s going to happen. I´m going to play smart. Wait for my chance.´ Little by little, I started to get back in the match.”
Swiatek’s previous dominance against Zheng included a victory in the same stadium during the fourth round of the 2022 French Open. Zheng also took the first set of that one, the only set dropped by Swiatek during that event.
Things did not quite gone so smoothly this week for the 23-year-old from Poland.
In the quarter-finals, Swiatek was forced to three sets and got the wind knocked out of her when she was hit by a ball off the racket of opponent Danielle Collins, who wound up retiring from the match because of an injured stomach muscle. Afterward, Collins, an American, gave Swiatek a lecture about being “insincere” when they spoke on court.
Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the singles semi-finals at a Summer Games since Djokovic in 2008 by getting past Paul of the US 6-3, 7-6 (7) at the Paris Olympics.
In another quarterfinal, Tokyo Games gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany lost to Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 7-5, 7-5.
Alcaraz is a 21-year-old Spaniard who is just a few days older than Djokovic was when he took home a bronze for Serbia 16 years ago in Beijing.
This is only the latest in a series of “youngest since” or “youngest ever” achievements for Alcaraz, who is coming off titles at the French Open – which is held at Roland Garros, the same facility being used for the 2024 Paris Games – in June and at Wimbledon in July.
Those trophies raised his Grand Slam trophy count to four. As it is, he was the youngest man with a major championship on hard, grass and clay courts. In 2022, he became the first teenager to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings, getting there after winning the US Open.
