Iga Swiatek was left in tears after losing to Qinwen Zheng in the Olympic semi-final. The world No 1 refused to shake the chair umpire’s hand following her 6-2 7-5 defeat and later walked away from an interview to cry.
The Pole had not lost a match on the clay courts of Stade Roland Garros since 2021 and the defeat ended her 25-match winning streak at the venue.
Although she still has a shot at the bronze medal, Swiatek made it no secret that Olympic gold had been her goal for years.
Zheng raced through the opening set 6-2 before Swiatek responded, taking a 4-0 lead in the second. But she suddenly lost four games in a row as the Chinese star edged closer to the gold medal match.
The No. 6 seed earned one more break and closed out the victory with a huge serve that Swiatek couldn’t get back into play, sending her return long. As Zheng collapsed to the ground in celebration, the 23-year-old called the umpire down to the court to check the ball mark for her opponent’s serve.
Miriam Bley confirmed it was on the line and returned to her chair as Swiatek and Zheng shook hands at the net. But as the Chinese star approached the official for their handshake, the world No. 1 walked past and ignored her.
After the match, the five-time Grand Slam champion was set to complete her media duties and started a TV interview with Eurosport. But she bowed her head and started crying halfway through, walking off as the interviewer asked another question.
Swiatek faced the wall, her face in her hands as she continued to sob. She then chose not to continue the rest of her required mixed zone interviews and left.
It was an emotional defeat for the four-time French Open champion, who has an incredible record at Stade Roland Garros. Swiatek has had her sights set on the gold medal for a long time, knowing what an opportunity it was with the tennis event being held on her favourite courts.
She will still have a chance to compete in the bronze medal play-off against the loser of the second semi-final between Donna Vekic and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. But Swiatek will have to wait until the LA 2028 Games to fight for gold.
The top seed was also dragged into some drama during her quarter-final match against Danielle Collins. The American retired injured in the third set and confronted Swiatek during the handshake. Collins later said: “I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about, you know, my injury.
“There’s a lot that happens on camera, and there are a lot of people with a ton of charisma and come out and are one way on camera and another way in the locker room. And I just haven’t had the best experience, and I don’t really feel like anybody needs to be insincere. They can be the way that they are. I can accept that, and I don’t need the fakeness…”
