Is Iga Swiatek the big disappointment of Paris Olympics?

08/02/2024 11:00 AM

I confirm what I wrote in the prediction published a few days ago for Tennis World USA about Paris Olympics: this is a tournament for outsiders. You can see it from the final that Qinwen Zheng will play tomorrow against Donna Vekic. Let's be clear, they are both great tennis players: the Chinese reached the final at the Australian Open, the Croatian has just played the semifinal at Wimbledon. So the two tennis players in the best form reach the final, but, in hindsight, Iga Swiatek's defeat in the semifinal against Qinwen is something epochal, considering that it was played on her beloved Roland Garros clay-courts.

The bronze medal won against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova is always a great achievement, but considering the playing surface and the dominance expressed by Iga in the entire clay-swing, her defeat was truly unexpected. The issue she had at the end of the quarterfinals against Danielle Collins (in a women's singles tournament full of dramatic moments) could have affected the psyche of the young WTA No.1, who bounced her dominant tennis on clay-courts against the wall erected by Zheng.

Swiatek d. Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 Iga wins the Bronze at the Olympics She should be immensely proud of what she’s done for her country, not only this week, but in the bigger picture Countless Polish children are falling in love with tennis because of what she’s doing. 🇵🇱❤️ pic.twitter.com/XGgkLZ1Q4a

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 2, 2024

Is Iga Swiatek the greatest disappointment of Paris Olympics? In my opinion, yes: given the premises and expectations, the gold medal was already ready for her. This tournament could have negative repercussions on the continuation of her season. Let's see if the Polish will be able to digest this disappointment and return to dominance.

There is no point in denying it. Yesterday was a tough day for Swiatek, who had to say goodbye to her dream of an Olympic gold medal. The defeat against Zheng is perhaps the most painful one suffered so far in her career, for the value that the Polish player has always attributed to the Olympics.

Swiatek had not lost a match on the Parisian clay for 1149 days and was - as I said - the absolute favorite in the Olympic singles tournament. However, the pressure played a bad trick on her and, from the first matches, the usual Swiatek did not appear.

At the end of the match against Zheng, Swiatek burst into tears before making some statements to the microphones of Eurosport. The Polish player, with her eyes still shining, did not answer the questions of the journalists present in the mixed zone, almost apologizing: "I'm sorry, next time".

Iga Swiatek in tears after her loss to Qinwen Zheng at the Olympics. 💔 Very sad to see this. She wanted it so badly. But she has to be so proud of what she’s done on this court. 4 Roland Garros titles at 23 years old is insane. Chin up. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/u9YXtJfFJZ

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 1, 2024