By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday July 31, 2024
Iga Swiatek defeated Danielle Collins to reach her maiden Olympic semifinal but drama stole the show in Paris on Wednesday.
Photo Source: TTV
Iga Swiatek’s gold medal quest continues in Paris.
The five-time major champion was tested but came through in three sets against American Danielle Collins to reach her maiden Olympic semifinal, 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 RET.
Swiatek, who improves to 39-2 lifetime on the Roland-Garros grounds, will face China’s Zheng Qinwen for a spot in the gold medal match on Thursday in Paris.
The Polish juggernaut dropped a set for the first time all tournament on Thursday, but managed to stretch her personal winning streak against Collins to six matches when the American struggled with an apparent abdominal injury and was eventually forced to retire from the match.
Swiatek improves to 51-5 on the season and 25-1 on clay.
Collins, playing in her last Olympic Games, is set to retire at the end of the season. She made life difficult for Swiatek, breaking the Pole twice and converting her second set point to take the middle set, but the 30-year-old had very little left in the deciding set. She fell behind 4-0 and, shortly after holding for 4-1, pulled the plug and fell to 1-7 vs Swiatek lifetime.
Bad Blood?
The match was not without drama, however.
Collins had words with Swiatek at the net after retiring, and appeared to be admonishing her.
It was later revealed that Collins took issue with Swiatek being insincere with regard to her injury struggles
"She didn't have to be insincere about my injury," Collins said. "There's a lot that happens on camera. And there are a lot of people with a ton of charisma ... (who) are one way on camera and another way in the locker room.
"I don't need the fakeness."
There was tension earlier in the third set as well, when Collins rifled a backhand pass into Swiatek’s body that sent the Pole to the clay. She was down for a moment, and had trouble breathing, but recovered after a moment.
Collins also took issue with Swiatek delaying her as she prepared her serve. At one point she told Swiatek: "There's no one behind me. Play at the server's pace."
Swiatek was baffled by the interaction.
"I've never done anything unpleasant to her," she said, according to Polish journalist Dominik Senkowski. "I just wanted to congratulate her on her successful career, because we know that this is her last year. Honestly, I don't know what she meant. We didn't have any interactions that could have caused something like this."
Swiatek owns a commanding 6-0 edge over Zheng, including two victories on the clay. They have played three three-setters, but Swiatek has won both of the pair’s 2024 meeting in straights.