World No. 1 Iga Šwiateková will not win the Olympic gold in Paris and will not build on her triumphs from the last three years of the clay Grand Slam at Roland Garros. In the semi-finals, the Polish tennis player unexpectedly lost to sixth seed Cheng Chin-wen in less than two hours 2:6, 5:7. The Chinese woman will play for the gold with Donna Vekičová from Croatia, who defeated Slovakian Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6:4 and 6:0
The men’s singles semi-finals feature Spanish favorite Carlos Alcaraz, Serbian Novak Djokovic, Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime and Italian Lorenzo Musetti. British Andy Murray played his last career match in the quarterfinals of the doubles.
Šwiateková, who has four Roland Garros titles, lost the opening set in 39 minutes. In the second, she started to turn around, but she did not keep the 4:0 lead. In total, she collected 36 unforced errors and lost for the first time after a 25-match winning streak on the Paris courts. It was not enough for the Chinese opponent in the seventh match between them for the first time.
Twenty-one-year-old Cheng Chin-wen made it to the final of the Australian Open this year, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenková. She became the first Chinese tennis player in history to advance to the finals of the Olympic tournament. So far, the only medal under the five rings, where tennis returned since 1988, was won by Jen C’ and Zheng Jie, who won bronze in the doubles in Beijing 2008.
For the gold, Cheng Ching-wen will face Vekičva in Saturday’s final, who defeated Barbara Krejčíková in the semi-finals in 67 minutes. The 28-year-old tennis player secured Croatia’s first Olympic singles medal since Goran Ivanišević’s bronze in 1992.
Twenty-one-year-old Alcaraz, who won Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, is one step closer to Olympic gold on the Paris clay. He also defeated the fourth opponent in two sets, defeating the American Tommy Paul 6:3 and 7:6. Félix Auger-Aliassime from Canada awaits him in the semifinals, who beat Nor Casper Ruud 6:4, 6:7, 6:3.
The tournament number one Djokovic is also keeping his chances for the first Olympic gold alive. The 37-year-old Serbian advanced after winning over Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece 6:3, 7:6. In the second set, at 0:3, Djokovic had his right knee treated, which he underwent surgery after this year’s Roland Garros. Although he was losing 0:4 or 2:5, in the ninth game he avoided three set points at 0:40, forced a shortened game and succeeded in it 7:3.
Djokovic will face Musetti in a replay of this year’s Wimbledon semifinals to advance to the final. The Italian knocked out defending champion Alexander Zverev of Germany after winning 7-5, 7-5.
The successful career of Briton Murray came to an end with elimination in the quarterfinals of the doubles, who, alongside Dan Evans, lost 2:6, 4:6 to the American pair of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. The three-time Grand Slam champion, two-time Olympic champion and former world number one said before the start of the Paris Games that the Olympic tournament would be his last event in his professional career.
Tennis at the Paris Olympics:
Men:
Singles – Quarter Finals:
Djokovic (1-Srb.) – Tsitsipas (8-Řec.) 6:3, 7:6 (7:3), Alcaraz (2-Shp.) – Paul (9-USA) 6:3, 7:6 ( 9:7), Musetti (11-It.) – Zverev (3-Něm.) 7:5, 7:5, Auger-Aliassime (13-Kan.) – Ruud (6-Nor.) 6:4, 6 :7 (8:10), 6:3.
Doubles – Semifinals:
Krajicek, Ram (4-USA) – Macháč, Pavlasek (Czech Republic) 6:2, 6:2.
Singles – Semifinals:
Cheng Chin-wen (6-China) – Šwiateková (1-Pol.) 6:2, 7:5, Vekičová (13-Croatia) – Schmiedlová (SR) 6:4, 6:0.
Doubles – Quarterfinals:
Muchová, Nosková (Czech Republic) – Xie Shu-wei, Tsao Ch’-ai (Taiwan) 1:6, 6:4, 14:12, M. Andrejevová, Šnajderová (AIN) – Krejčíková, Siniaková (2-CR) 6:1, 7:5.
Mixed Doubles – Semifinals:
Siniaková, Macháč (Czech Republic) – Dabrowská, Auger-Aliassime (Canada) 6:3, 6:3, Chang Č’-chen, Wang Sin-jü (China) – Koolhof, Schuursová (Niz.) 2:6, 6:4, 10:4.
