Emotional Iga Swiatek brings home bronze medal from Olympic Games, puts aside crushing Qinwen Zheng defeat
WTA
It may not have been the gold medal that Iga Swiatek was initially hoping for, but the World No.1 will leave the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with a bronze medal. A first Olympic medal for the Pole who was crying for all the right reasons today.
Swiatek faced off against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova who as is the case with the Olympic Games goes away without any medal. The Slovak has been one of the stories of the past week and alongside Vekic and Kostyuk perhaps has been the feel good aspect of WTA action.
A player who started the week unheralded among a malaise of top names. She beat top 10 players in back-to-back matches for the first time in her career. Those being Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova. Both have had success at this very venue in reaching the final and winning the title respectively.
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Both also reach the Wimbledon final last month but were well beaten by AKS. But the Slovak fell apart against Vekic who will play in the gold medal match tomorrow and easily beaten as expected 6-2, 6-1 in just 59 minutes.
The World Number 67 despite her run was no match for the World No.1 who was left devastated after losing to Qinwen Zheng in Thursday's semi-finals. The upset was only the third loss that Swiatek has ever taken at Roland Garros. It also saw Qinwen snap a 6-0 Head to Head deficit and a 20 match winning streak for Swiatek on clay.
However Swiatek who had more time to recover as Schmiedlova played late last night returned to the court and put it right. Whilst she may not be leaving with gold, Swiatek will head to Canada in the cold light of day pleased with picking up a maiden medal also after heartbreak in Tokyo.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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