The end of the women’s singles Olympic tennis tournament is in sight after a major semifinal upset, with the gold medal race coming down to two players few expected to be in this position: sixth seeds Zheng Qinwen of China and Donna Vekic of Croatia.
It also means that the bronze medal game currently scheduled for Friday will be between Poland’s top seed Iga Swiatek and Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Szmiedlova.
The 21-year-old Zheng was considered a threat to Swiatek, but few expected her to beat the clay court specialist in straight sets. Swiatek has dominated clay courts, winning three consecutive titles at Roland Garros, home of the French Open. Despite a mediocre performance at the 2020 Olympics, she was considered the favorite to win her first gold medal before her big break.
Zheng had other ideas, however, beating Swiatek in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5. Zheng had been taken to three sets by Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the previous round and had not beaten Swiatek in their six previous meetings, including twice on clay. But Zheng’s Olympic success hasn’t come completely out of nowhere, having reached the Australian Open final earlier this year, her best Grand Slam result to date.
Vekic, 28, entered the Olympics ranked 21st in singles in the world. She is not considered a clay-court specialist, reaching only the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2019. Her best performance came this year, when she reached the semifinals on grass at Wimbledon just before the Olympics.
She wasted no time in beating Schmidlova in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0 on Thursday.
Vekic and Zhen have only met twice before, with wins and losses, and they have only met on hard courts so far – the clay of Roland Garros is a new venue in their head-to-head history.
In the bronze medal match, Swiatek will be looking to redeem what many consider a missed opportunity against Swiatek, who has more experience but far less success at the highest level: Swiatek has won the French Open four times (on this court) and the U.S. Open once, while Swiatek has yet to win a major title.
Schmidlova’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2023. She has never played Swiatek in singles. The two will play in the bronze medal match on Friday, August 2, while Zheng and Vekic will meet in the gold medal match on Saturday, August 3.
Olympic women’s tennis medal match
Bronze Medal Match: No. 1 Iga Swiatek vs. Anna Karolina Szmiedlova (Friday)
Gold Medal Match: No. 6 Cheng Geum-Won vs. Donna Vekic (Saturday)
