Zheng Qinwen of China has managed to secure gold in the women’s singles tennis bracket at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Zheng, the sixth seed, needed just two sets to defeat No. 13 Donna Vekic of Croatia, 6-2, 6-3, on the clay courts of Roland Garros. The loss means that Vekic will be taking home the silver medal, something that few expected out of her when the draw was announced.
And while Zheng came in ranked higher than Vekic — No. 7 in the world vs. No .21 — she too was hardly expected to come away with the gold. Both players made it through multiple higher-ranked opponents throughout the tournament. Zheng’s medal is China’s first ever Olympic gold in women’s singles.
Zheng, 21, had a phenomenal run to the final, coming into the tournament as the sixth seed and dispatching the top-seeded Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. Before that, she downed Angelique Kerber of Germany (a 2016 silver medalist) in three sets in the quarterfinals.
That marked the final match of Kerber’s professional career, but it was the straight sets victory over Swiatek that really shocked the tennis world. On top of being the top seed, Swiatek is a clay court specialist who has won three consecutive French Opens on this same Roland Garros clay.
She became the first Polish tennis player to win a medal at the Summer Games when she won the ensuing bronze medal match against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Schmiedlova was the lowest-ranked semifinalist — No. 67 in the world — since tennis returned to the Olympics, but she still had a phenomenal run en route to being the first Slovak woman to reach the medal stage in tennis. She downed the fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini in the third round, and took down the ninth-seeded Barbora Krejčíková in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
Then she ran into Vekic, who dispatched her and made it look easy in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0. Vekic is 28 and entered the Olympics with a singles ranking of No. 21 in the world. Going into the final, she had dropped just a single set all tournament.
On her way to the quarterfinals and beyond, Vekic dropped former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round and then Coco Gauff in the third. Gauff is the world No. 2 player and was considered the USA’s top chance at getting a medal in singles tennis this Olympics.
On the men’s side, top seed Novak Djokovic will face second seed Carlos Alcaraz to determine the gold and silver medals on Sunday.
