Swiatek in tears after shock Olympic semi-final defeat to Zheng as Alcaraz advances

Polish top seed and gold medal favourite loses to Chinese player in straight sets as Spaniard beats Paul of USA

Qinwen Zheng of China celebrates after winning her semi-final against Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-2, 7-5 at the Paris 2024 Olympics at the Roland Garros stadium on August 1, 2024. EPA

Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after losing her semi-final against Qinwen Zheng of China. EPA

Qinwen Zheng shakes hands with Iga Swiatek after winning their semi-final. EPA

China's Zheng Qinwen reacts after beating Poland's Iga Swiatek to reach the final. AFP

Poland's Iga Swiatek returns to China's Zheng Qinwen. AFP

Qinwen Zheng of China celebrates her victory. EPA

China's Zheng Qinwen returns to Poland's Iga Swiatek. AFP

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates winning his quarter-final 6-3, 7-6 against Tommy Paul of the USA. EPA

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates his victory. EPA

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain plays a forehand against Tommy Paul of the USA. Getty Images

Carlos Alcaraz returns against Tommy Paul. AFP

Carlos Alcaraz and Tommy Paul after their match. EPA

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World No 1 and gold medal favourite Iga Swiatek of Poland was left in tears as she fell to a shock defeat to China’s Zheng Qinwen in her Paris Olympics singles semi-final at Roland Garros on Thursday.

But Spain's No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz safely negotiated his way into the last four of the men's draw after beating Tommy Paul of the USA.

After her 6-2, 7-5 defeat, which brought to a halt a 25-match winning streak on the red clay of Paris, Swiatek broke down in tears and later said she had "messed up".

"I had a hole in my backhand," she told Eurosport Poland. "It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid stroke."

Swiatek, who has won four French Open titles in Paris in the past five years, held a 6-0 career record against Zheng, but the 23-year-old clay court specialist produced one of her worst displays of the season, making 36 unforced errors against her opponent's 15.

"I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that," Swiatek said.

"I know that’s not the justification but I tried to correct that during the match. Today it didn’t work at all. So she used that to win the game."

The Pole was 4-0 up in the second set and looked on course to square the match at one set apiece until Zheng reeled off four games in a row before clinching the set to take the victory.

The last time Swiatek was beaten at Roland Garros was in the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2021 when she lost to Maria Sakkari. The best she can hope for now is a bronze medal.

Australian Open finalist Zheng, the No 7 seed, is the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic tennis final.

She will face either Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or Croatia's Donna Vekic in the showpiece.

Afterwards, Zheng said: "I'm so happy that I could make this history for China tennis because I always wanted to be one of the athletes who got a medal for China and now I'm one of them.

"But I know the fight is not over. It's not the end. The tournament is very long. So I'm really happy but at the same time I'm waiting for more. Of course, I have made history already but I don't want to stop here."

Alcaraz reached the semi-finals after a 6-3, 7-6 victory over American Paul but was made to work for his win.

After taking the first set comfortably, the No 2 seed had to come from a break down in the second set before winning it on a tiebreak.

The Spaniard, who has won the French Open and Wimbledon already this year, came through 9-7 in the decider. It guarantees him at least a bronze in his first ever appearance at the Games.

The 21-year-old Alcaraz will face either Casper Ruud or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the gold medal match.