World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland moved into the medal rounds of the 2024 Paris Olympics, advancing past No.8 seed Danielle Collins of the United States 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 ret. on Wednesday. Swiatek is currently on a 20-match winning streak on clay.
Olympics: Scores | Draws | Order of Play
Top-seeded Swiatek was forced to regroup after being outhit by Collins in the second set, but the Pole eventually eased ahead 4-0 in the third set before Collins retired from the match after two hours of action.
Nearly perfect in Paris: With her wins at the 2024 Games, Swiatek adds to her legacy of success at Roland Garros, the site of the tennis event at the XXXIII Olympiad.
Adding her four victories this week to her total, Swiatek is now 39-2 on the historic grounds, including winning four French Open titles in the last five years.
Collins, playing in her final season on tour at the age of 30, was seeking her second career win over a reigning World No.1 (having previously beaten Ashleigh Barty at 2021 Adelaide), but she was unable to complete the match and fell to 1-7 against Swiatek.
Zheng awaits: Swiatek will face a second straight Top 10 player when she meets No.6 seed Zheng Qinwen of China in the semifinals. Zheng ended the career of former World No.1 Angelique Kerber earlier on Wednesday, edging the German in a third-set tiebreak.
The winner of that match will reach the gold-medal final, and the loser will play for the bronze. Swiatek has a commanding 6-0 head-to-head lead over Zheng.
Match moments: Swiatek had minimal trouble taking the one-set lead, although a shift in momentum was on the cards when she had to fend off the first three break points she faced in the last game of the set.
Indeed, Collins was overpowering with her service returns in the second set, using depth and speed with that shot to break Swiatek twice and storm into a decisive third set.
But Swiatek quickly raced to a double-break lead in the final set, and Collins needed to take a medical-time out while trailing 3-0. Collins got on the scoreboard at 4-1 but the American could go no further, sending Swiatek into the semis.
More to come...
