By Richard Paglaro | @TennisNow | Friday, August 2, 2024
Photo credit: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty
Polish flags were waving with pride throughout Court Philippe Chatrier.
A tear ran down Iga Swiatek’s cheek as she sat on her court-side seat absorbing a moment that was both ground breaking and heartbreaking.
More: Zheng Shocks Swiatek at Olympics
World No. 1 Swiatek bounced back from her shocking semifinal loss yesterday with a historic win today.
Swiatek swept Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1 in the Paris Olympics bronze-medal match to capture Poland’s first Olympic tennis medal.
It isn’t the gold medal the four-time French Open champion came to Paris to claim, but this bronze medal is an important advancement for tennis-proud nation Poland.
“Honestly, [I have] really a lot of mixed emotions because obviously I would love to play in the final tomorrow,” Swiatek told NBC’s Britney Eurton in her on-court interview. “But just getting out here today and actually enjoying playing and being able to do everything professionally and playing such a tennis that I could really kind of have peace of mind really helped me a lot.
“So I’m really happy I could do end this tournament on a positive note.”
In the semifinals, 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen surged through seven of the last eight games shocking Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 to make history as the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic tennis gold-medal match.
It was a crushing setback for Swiatek, who saw her 25-match Roland Garros winning streak snapped, departed Court Philippe Chatrier in tears and later cut short her post-match interviews as she grew emotional again.
"The tension and stress I've been feeling all week makes it even more special," Swiatek said. "Honestly, I haven't felt anything like that, even in Grand Slams. It wasn't easy and to have a medal is a dream come true, but I'm also very proud of myself, to have been able to come back today and win.
"Because yesterday I probably suffered one of the worst defeats of my career."
Given the pressure at play today, how would Swiatek respond against Cinderella-story Schmiedlova today?
Schmiedlova was playing some of her best tennis bidding to become the second Slovak to win an Olympic tennis medal after Seoul 1988 men’s singles gold medallist Miloslav Mecir, aka The Big Cat.
At the outset, Swiatek was a bit stiff scattering seven unforced errors in the first three-and-half games.
Once Swiatek found her footing, she turned it on streaking through six straight games to turn a 1-2 deficit into a 6-2, 1-0 lead.
Swiatek converted five of seven break points sealing Poland’s first Olympic tennis medal with a body serve to close in one hour.
Embed from Getty Images
The top-seeded Swiatek’s father, Olympic rower Tomasz Swiatek, who competed in the men's quadruple sculls event for Poland at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, was in the Chatrier crowd with her family today.
Afterward, Swiatek said seeing her dad in the crowd was a full-circle moment.
“It’s amazing. Honestly me and my sister were kind of raised with the spirit that the Olympics is the most important tournament—that’s why it wasn’t the easiest tournament—but this makes it even better,” Swiatek said. “And I’m even more proud of myself that I could do it.
"And I’m happy my [dad] was here to see it. This is really a great place to be and play. So I’m happy that besides Roland Garros titles I could add success to it.”