The biggest clay-court winner in women’s tennis suffered a littany of loss on Court Philippe Chatrier today.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek lost a 4-0 second-set lead, her 25-match Roland Garros winning streak and a shot at the Olympic gold medal in a stunning defeat.
More: Zheng Shocks Swiatek at Olympics
The 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen surged through seven of the last eight games shocking Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 to make history as the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic tennis gold-medal match.
A heavy favorite to win the gold, four-time French Open champion Swiatek scattered 36 errors, 23 more than Zheng, and looked demoralized and emotionally depleted by the end of the one-hour, 51-minute loss.
Afterward, a tearful Swiatek, who declined to shake the chair umpire’s hand and cut her post-match interview session short, said her backhand breakdown was a key component to her loss.
“I had a problem on my backhand, which rarely happens because it’s usually my strongest shot,” Swiatek told Eurosport Poland immediately after the defeat. “I tried to correct that, it didn’t work. I messed up.”
The pressure of capturing a gold medal for Poland may well have also contributed to Swiatek’s demise.
The top seed’s unexpected unravelling all came a day after American Danielle Collins seemed to admonish the five-time Grand Slam champion at net after she retired from their quarterfinal match in the third set.
Collins’ comments after yesterday’s match were interpreted by some as calling out Swiatek as a bit of a phony as the American was annoyed by some of the Pole’s antics, including her habit of holding up her hand when returning to slow the server.
Despite today’s defeat, Swiatek is still in contention for a bronze medal.Ā Ā