World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland reached her first career Olympic quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over China's Wang Xiyu at the 2024 Paris Games on Tuesday. With the win, Swiatek becomes the first Polish player to make an Olympic quarterfinal in singles.
Olympics: Scores | Draws | Order of Play
Top-seeded Swiatek needed 1 hour and 51 minutes to hold off Wang, who is placed World No.52 in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings. Swiatek collected her second clay-court win over Wang this year, having previously topped the Chinese left-hander at Madrid.
In her previous Olympic appearance, Swiatek fell to Paula Badosa in the second round at 2021 Tokyo on hard court. But things might turn out quite differently for the Pole this time around, where she will aim for medals on the clay of Roland Garros, a site where she has dominated.
Swiatek's win over Wang on Tuesday came on Court Philippe Chatrier -- the very arena where she has captured four French Open titles in the last five years. Including her three wins this week, Swiatek is a commanding 38-2 on the grounds of Roland Garros throughout her career.
Wang gave Swiatek a true challenge in both sets on Tuesday, holding three break points combined in Swiatek's first three service games. However, Swiatek erased those chances, then fired a backhand crosscourt passing winner to earn the first break of the day and lead 4-2.
Swiatek took the first set, then eased ahead by a break at 4-3 in the second set. Wang had a medical time-out after that game, where her strapped left leg was attended to. The Chinese player came out firing in the next game, breaking at love for 4-4.
But Swiatek regained her break lead at 5-4, then fended off a final charge by Wang in the next game, saving one last break point. Swiatek closed out the match with her first ace of the day.
To reach the medal rounds, Swiatek will have to take down No.8 seed Danielle Collins of the United States in the quarters. Swiatek has a commanding 6-1 head-to-head lead over Collins, but the American's one win came in a huge match -- the 2022 Australian Open semifinals.
Head to Head
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Krejcikova prevails: Earlier on Tuesday, reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova battled into the quarterfinals with a 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 victory over Elina Svitolina, the Olympic bronze medalist from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
No.9 seed Krejcikova of the Czech Republic needed 2 hours and 48 minutes to grind past Ukraine's flagbearer Svitolina, charging back from a break down at 2-0 in the final set.
Former World No.2 Krejcikova has now won 10 straight tour-level singles matches. She turned her year around by winning her second Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon less than a month ago ranked No.32, rising back into the Top 10 afterwards.
Krejcikova had previously beaten Svitolina en route to her first Grand Slam singles title, which came at this very site at the 2021 French Open. Meanwhile, former World No.3 Svitolina suffered only her second loss in her last nine Olympic singles matches.
Krejcikova came back later in the day to win her first-round doubles match alongside Katerina Siniakova. Krejcikova and Siniakova are the defending champions, having won the gold medal in women's doubles at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Schmiedlova stuns Paolini: Also on Tuesday, Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova posted a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 upset of No.4 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, this month's Wimbledon runner-up.
Schmiedlova is the only Slovak in any tennis event at this year's Olympics, and she now finds herself in the singles quarterfinals ranked World No.67. Paolini served for Tuesday's match at 5-4 in the third set, but Schmiedlova picked off the next three games to prevail.
Former Top 30 player Schmiedlova had lost six of her seven previous meetings against Paolini. But Schmiedlova upended that head-to-head with a two-and-a-half-hour win over Paolini, who also reached this year's French Open final.
It is only the second Top 10 win of Schmiedlova's career in 13 attempts. Her previous Top 10 win also came over an Italian at an Olympic Games, when she toppled Roberta Vinci at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro event.
Schmiedlova has already tasted previous success at Roland Garros, the home of these Olympics. She reached her first career Grand Slam Round of 16 here at the French Open last year.
Schmiedlova and Krejcikova will now square off in the quarterfinals, with a spot in the medal rounds on the line. They have never met at the professional level, but Schmiedlova beat Krejcikova both times they met in juniors.
Kostyuk topples Sakkari: Despite Svitolina's loss, Ukrainians will still have a representative in the women's singles quarterfinals. No.12 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine squeaked past No.7 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Playing with all her ♥️@marta_kostyuk | #Paris2024 | #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/GIUu7KtMNK
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 30, 2024
It was another marathon clash in Paris on Tuesday afternoon, with Kostyuk needing 2 hours and 49 minutes to outlast former World No.3 Sakkari. Kostyuk was down an early break in the third set before taking the decider, in which seven games went against serve.
Kostyuk will now face No.13 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia for a spot in the medal rounds, after Vekic shocked No.2 Coco Gauff earlier on Tuesday. Vekic won their only previous meeting, a 7-5, 6-4 victory on these very grounds at this year's French Open.
