Iga Swiatek wins bronze in women’s singles
Iga Swiatek has added an Olympic medal to her tennis trophy collection. The Polish player, world number 1, won bronze in the women’s singles tournament at Paris 2024. Swiatek faced Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the bronze medal match and won by 2 sets to 0, with scores of 6-2 and 6-1, in 59 minutes of play.
Swiatek was the favorite in the women’s singles tournament, especially as she has four titles at Roland Garros, including the last three. Therefore, her loss in the semifinals to Chinese player Zheng Qinwen (6-2, 7-5) was surprising. Swiatek did not hesitate to express her frustration over the defeat but bounced back with total control against Schmiedlova.
The surprise of the women’s singles tournament, having eliminated three higher-ranked opponents (including Brazilian Bia Haddad Maia), Schmiedlova initially led 2-1 in the first set, with a service break. After that, Swiatek took control. There were three breaks en route to the victory of 6-2. In the second set, the Slovakian only held her serve once before Swiatek surged to a 6-1 finish.
This was Swiatek‘s second appearance at the Olympic Games. At Tokyo 2020, the Polish player was eliminated in the second round of singles and the quarter-finals of women’s doubles. This marks Poland’s first tennis medal in Olympic history. The final, between Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic, will take place this Saturday, August 3.