Iga Swiatek’s gold medal dreams were dashed by a ruthless Qinwen Zheng in a 6-2 7-5 defeat.
The world number one once again crumbled to the pressure and expectation of representing her country as she lost in the semi-finals of the Olympics.
Zheng showed a mixture of flawless power and clean mixture of shots to dominate the opening set.
Meanwhile Swiatek was too passive and lacked the usual ferociousness her shots have.
An immaculate opening set from Zheng saw her take the opening set 6-2 with work to be done for Swiatek.
In the second set Swiatek played with aggressive intent and raced to a 4-0 lead with the Pole looking well on her way to levelling the match at one set all.
Clearly Zheng didn’t read the script though as the Australian Open champion reeled off four games in a row, saving two break points in the eighth game.
A late show of defiance from an evidently frustrated Swiatek wasn’t enough as Zheng broke in the eleventh game before saving another break point to seal victory.
The defeat was Swiatek’s first at Roland Garros since her quarter-final defeat to Maria Sakkari at 2021.
Swiatek will now face the loser of Donna Vekic and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the bronze medal match.
Meanwhile Zheng has guaranteed China’s first ever medal in tennis history at the Olympics and will now aim to secure gold.
