Iga Swiatek breaks into tears during an interview for Polish TV at the Olympics after a shock semi-final loss ends her 25-match winning run on the Paris clay
Iga Swiatek lost 6-2 7-5 to Qinwen Zheng in an Olympic semi-final on Thursday
The world No 1 was later seen crying during – and after – a television interview
Swiatek, 23, could still leave the Paris Games with a bronze medal this summer
Iga Swiatek was inconsolable after her dream of winning Olympic gold at Paris 2024 came to an end on Thursday.
The 23-year-old from Poland had been a strong favourite to win the women’s singles event.
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Not only is Swiatek ranked first in the WTA rankings, she has won the French Open at Roland Garros in four of the past five years.
But her 25-match winning streak on the famous Paris clay was ended on Thursday when she lost 6-2 7-5 to China’s Qinwen Zheng.
Swiatek shook hands with her opponent but not with the umpire after her defeat.
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Tennis star Iga Swiatek lost in the semi-finals of the women’s singles at the Olympics in Paris
The four-time French Open champion lost 6-2 7-5 against Qinwen Zheng of China on Thursday
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She then swiftly left the court only to be faced with her media duties.
Swiatek was interviewed by Eurosport in her native Polish but the interview did not last long.
The interviewer only asked two questions before Swiatek began tearing up.
Sympathetically, the man with the mic abandoned his third question – which was seemingly set to be about Swiatek’s bronze medal match against Donna Vekic or Anna Karolína Schmiedlova – and concluded with the words: ‘Iga, thank you. All the best, we’re keeping our fingers crossed.’
Swiatek then quickly walked out of shot but she was spotted by another camera, which showed her continuing to cry while leaning forwards with her hands on her knees.
During the interview, Swiatek had earlier said of her defeat by Zheng: ‘I didn’t play well, I simply had a hole in my backhand.’
Swiatek, who is first in the WTA rankings, began crying in an interview on Eurosport Polska
After the interview, a tearful Swiatek was seen leaning forward with her hands on her knees
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She added: ‘Technically, I wasn’t well positioned, probably also due to tension and the fact that I was playing matches day after day, and we didn’t have time to refine it.
‘Of course, this is not an excuse because that’s the nature of this tournament, but I really tried to correct it during the match, and it totally didn’t work, so I definitely tried my best to win.’
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Swiatek had led 4-0 in the second set before losing seven of the last eight games.
‘I just messed up’, she said.
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Iga Swiatek
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