Zheng stuns Swiatek to reach Olympic tennis final

It was an amazing match because to beat Iga is not easy, says Chinese player

PARIS:

Zheng Qinwen stunned women’s world number one Iga Swiatek on Thursday to become the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic Games tennis singles final.

Seventh-ranked Zheng triumphed 6-2, 7-5 and will face either Croatia’s Donna Vekic or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the gold medal match.

“I feel more than just happy -- happy isn’t enough to describe how I feel,” said Zheng, who had played back-to-back three-hour matches to make the semi-final.

“If you ask me to play another three hours for my country, I would.

“It was an amazing match. To beat Iga is not easy as it’s an important event for her.”

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion at Roland Garros, went into Thursday’s match at a sweltering Court Philippe Chatrier on a 25-match win streak in Paris.

The 23-year-old had also defeated Zheng in all of their six previous meetings.

However, she was hit off the court by the powerful 21-year-old Australian Open finalist who broke the Pole three times in the opening set.

Swiatek appeared restored by a 10-minute break and quickly stretched out to 4-0 lead in the second set before Zheng battled back, retrieving both breaks for 4-4.

The Chinese star broke again for a 6-5 lead against the error-plagued Swiatek and claimed victory in the next game, having reeled off seven games in succession.

By making the final, Zheng is the first Chinese man or woman to reach an Olympic singles gold medal match, bettering the run of Li Na who finished fourth in the women’s event at Beijing in 2008.

Swiatek was left to rue her 36 unforced errors in a tie where she also dropped serve six times.

1Djokovic, Alcaraz close in on Olympics clash

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz overcame crushing humidity on Wednesday to stay on course for an Olympic final showdown as Rafael Nadal played possibly his final match at Roland Garros.

Djokovic, seeking a first Olympic title, defeated German left-hander Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3, becoming the first man to reach four singles quarter-finals at the Games.

Alcaraz brushed aside Roman Safiullin, the Russian playing in Paris as a neutral, 6-4, 6-2.

Nadal, who has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros, exited Paris after he and Alcaraz were defeated in the men’s doubles, going down 6-2, 6-4 to US pair Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.

The 38-year-old Nadal, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, walked off Court Philippe Chatrier applauding all four sides of the stadium.

He was later asked whether he had played at Roland Garros for the final time.

“Maybe, I don’t know. If that’s the last time, for me it’s an unforgettable feeling and emotions,” said the injury-plagued former world number one whose ranking has slumped to 161.