Paris 2024 Olympics: Tearful Iga Swiatek ends interview abrupty after defeat to Qinwen Zheng (VIDEO)
Poland tennis star Iga Swiatek broke down in tears after just two questions of her post-match interview as her Olympic dream was shockingly shattered in straight sets by underdog Qinwen Zheng.
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The reigning 2024 Wimbledon champion at Roland-Garros and winner of four French Opens in the last five years, Swiatek had made Olympic gold a major focus of her season after she was knocked out in the quarter-finals at Tokyo 2020.
But a nightmare first set ended 6-2 in favour of Zheng, and when the Chinese player broke Swiatek to draw level in the second set after the Pole had raced into a 4-0 lead, the world No. 1 looked crestfallen.
Zheng defied the odds to knock favourite Swiatek out of the women's singles at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and it was all too much for the world number one afterwards.
Swiatek broke down in tears while speaking to Eurosport in the bowels of Roland-Garros, having let a 4-0 lead slip in the second set when her Chinese opponent - who took the first set - appeared to be on the ropes.
Swiatek tried to show a brave face when speaking to Eurosport’s Pawel Kuwik afterwards, but couldn’t hide the disappointment and had to end the interview early.
“I just had a hole in my backhand. It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid strike,” Swiatek told Kuwik.
“I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that.
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“I know that’s not the justification but I tried to correct that during the match. Today it didn’t work at all. So she used that to win the game.”
When asked why she slumped from 4-0 to 4-4 and ultimately 5-7 in the second set, Swiatek added: “It's the result of the match. So I just messed up.”
Poland are yet to strike gold at the 2024 Olympics with arguably their biggest strength yet to come in the track and field events.
Swiatek will fight for bronze against the loser of the second semi-final between Croatian Donna Vekic and Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia, while Zheng awaits the winner in the gold medal match.
Then Swiatek’s focus switches to her pursuit of a second US Open crown, with the first round of the women’s competition getting underway in late August at Flushing Meadows.