Zheng stuns Swiatek, reaches first Olympic final
Zheng Qinwen of China stunned women's world number one Iga Swiatek on Thursday to become the first player from the nation 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 defeated Zheng in all of their six previous meetings.  In the mixed doubles, the Chinese pair of Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen reached the final after defeating their opponents from the Netherlands. Wang and Zhang were slow off the block in the semi-final, conceding the opening set 2-6 to Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof. But the Chinese pair levelled the match at one set apiece by winning set two 6-4, before clinching the tie-break 10-4. They will face the winner of the other semi-final between the pairs from Canada and the Czech Republic. The final is scheduled on Saturday morning, Hong Kong time at Roland Garros. (AFP)_____________________________
Last updated: 2024-08-01 HKT 22:59 