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On August 1, in the women's singles semi-finals of the Paris Olympics, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen defeated the world's number one Polish player Swiatek and entered the final, creating the best Olympic result for Chinese tennis singles.

After the game, Zheng Qinwen was asked on the sidelines, "Tomorrow you can finally take a day off. Will you be too excited to rest properly?"

Zheng Qinwen took a deep breath and said, "Yes, now the only thing that supports me is faith. I am sleep deprived and very tired. My physical condition has reached its limit. But I don't know why, in this game there is an extra force supporting me. I remember that I was also very tired at the Australian Open. I was also very tired at that time and felt that I could not continue. Although I am very tired today, I feel that I can continue to play. Even if you let me play for my country for another three hours now, I am still willing to do it again."

According to the New Yellow River, after the game, Zheng Qinwen responded to his advancement to the Olympic finals by saying: "I have always wanted to be a person who breaks history since I was a child, and I have been working hard on this path. But I know that the battle is not over yet. Although I have made a breakthrough, I don't want to stop here, I hope to fight to the last moment. Of course I am happy for myself, but I still want to do better. Although I don't know what will happen in the final, I can guarantee that I will fight to my last breath."

The picture shows Zheng Qinwen in the competition

Previously, Zheng Qinwen and Swiatek had played against each other six times, but lost all of them. At the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen showed tenacious performance and won his first career victory against Swiatek.

As a result, Zheng Qinwen created the best record in the history of Chinese tennis in Olympic singles - in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Li Na won the fourth place in the women's singles tennis.

Facing Swiatek, Zheng Qinwen won two sets of fierce battles with a score of 2-0 and advanced. She reached the women's singles final in her first Olympic Games in her career and will launch an attack on the Olympic gold medal.

In the gold medal match, Zheng Qinwen will compete for the championship with the winner between Slovak player Schmiedlova and Croatian player Vikic.

Further reading

A miracle! Zheng Qinwen defeated the world's No. 1 and the Chinese team took the podium again after 16 years

Zheng Qinwen advances to the finals

In the just-concluded Olympic women's singles tennis semi-finals, the 21-year-old Chinese player Zheng Qinwen defeated the No. 1 seed of the tournament and currently world No. 1 Polish player Swiatek with a score of 2:0 and successfully advanced to the women's singles final!

A journey of reversal

Six consecutive defeats against the world's number one

Zheng Qinwen's road to advancement in this Olympics was bumpy.

In the women's singles semi-finals of the Paris Olympics tennis event, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen defeated Polish player Swiatek 2-0 and advanced to the finals. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Jing

As the sixth seed of the tournament, she had gone through two consecutive battles lasting more than three hours in the previous two days, eliminating the world No. 15 American player Emma Navarro and the former world No. 1 German veteran Angelique Kerber.

After staging two epic reversals in a row, fans gave Zheng Qinwen the title of "Queen of Reversal", but it also greatly depleted Zheng Qinwen's physical strength.

After defeating Kerber yesterday, Zheng Qinwen couldn't hide her excitement and shed tears on the court. After the game, she explained, "I broke my own limit, so when I won this victory, I couldn't control my emotions at all." She also admitted that she was actually exhausted in the second half of the game, "This game was really difficult. This may be the most difficult game I have played in my career. I have never fought for such a long time for two consecutive days. In fact, I was exhausted at the end. For a while, I couldn't breathe. My legs really felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead."

But Zheng Qinwen managed to hold on with her strong willpower. She said, "I still have expectations for myself and still want to win more games for China (team)!"

On August 1, Zheng Qinwen celebrated scoring during the game

However, after entering the semi-finals, Zheng Qinwen faced the No. 1 seed of the tournament, Swiatek, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the world. With a strong opponent in front of him and Zheng Qinwen having fought for two consecutive days, people were not too optimistic about this match before the game.

Born in 2001, Swiatek is already a five-time Grand Slam women's singles champion. The fledgling Pole entered the top ten in the world rankings for the first time in 2021, and then her performance soared like a rocket, becoming the world's fourth in less than half a year. At the same time, Zheng Qinwen's ranking is still outside the top 100.

In 2022, Swiatek ushered in an explosion in her career. She achieved dazzling results such as 20 consecutive victories and 35 consecutive victories in different competitions, and ranked first in the world for 32 consecutive weeks.

In their previous professional careers, the two had faced each other a total of six times, and the results were one-sided - Zheng Qinwen had never won a single match.

However, under such unfavorable circumstances, Zheng Qinwen performed a miracle on the clay court of Roland Garros. She defeated her opponent with a score of 6:2, 7:5 and rushed into the women's singles final of the Paris Olympics.

Unlike the previous two fierce battles, Zheng Qinwen adjusted his state early in this game. He did not give his opponent many chances in the first set and won in just 39 minutes. At the beginning of the second set, his opponent took the lead and took a 4:0 advantage. But Zheng Qinwen did not give up. He stubbornly tied the score to 4:4. After struggling to keep his serve, Zheng Qinwen found an opportunity in his opponent's serve. Finally, when the first match point came, Zheng Qinwen cashed it in and won the game.

Zheng Qinwen played steadily in this match, changing the mistakes in the first two matches. Throughout the whole match, she made only 13 unforced errors, 23 fewer than her opponent. The women's singles final will be held at 18:00 on August 3, two days later, Beijing time. We look forward to Zheng Qinwen bringing you another surprise!

Return to the podium after 16 years

In tennis, a sport long dominated by European and American powerhouses, Chinese players have not been able to step onto the Olympic podium for 16 years.

At the Beijing Olympics, Li Na won fourth place, creating the best record in the history of Chinese women's singles. Zheng Jie and Yan Zi won a precious bronze medal in the doubles competition. This was also the last time that Chinese tennis stood on the podium at the Olympic Games.

Li Na finished fourth in women's singles at the Beijing Olympics

This time, Zheng Qinwen achieved a breakthrough in the women's singles event, creating the best record in the history of Chinese women's singles since they competed in the Olympics.

Before this, the best performance of Chinese women's tennis in the Olympics belonged to the combination of Li Ting and Sun Tiantian.

On August 22, 2004, Chinese players Sun Tiantian (right) and Li Ting defeated Spanish players Martinez/Pasquier 2-0 in the women's doubles final of the Olympic Games to win the championship. This was the first time that Chinese players won an Olympic gold medal in women's tennis.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, they defeated Spanish player Martinez Pasquale with a total score of 2-0, winning China's first world championship in a major tennis tournament.

Let us wait and see whether Zheng Qinwen can win another gold medal for China after 20 years!