PARIS: Zheng Qinwen claimed China’s first tennis singles gold medal in Olympic history by defeating Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 in the 2024 Paris Games women’s final Saturday.
The 21-year-old Zheng displayed the same powerful serves and groundstrokes she used to eliminate No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and now has the biggest title of her career.
Not that Zheng hasn’t shown plenty of promise already. She is ranked No. 7, after all, and was the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the hard-court Australian Open in January.
This, though, could make her a real star in her country. International Tennis Hall of Fame member Li Na is the only Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title — at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open — and served as inspiration for Zheng when she was a kid learning the sport.
“It’s just unreal,” Zheng said after signing several autographs for members of the crowd. “All my country will be proud of me. I will be proud of myself.”
Novak Djokovic will play Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday for the men’s singles gold.
The Paris Olympics tennis matches are being played at Roland Garros, the clay-court facility that hosts the annual French Open. Swiatek is a four-time champion at that event, including titles there the past three years, and carried a 25-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros into her matchup with Zheng. Swiatek ended up with the bronze for Poland.
Vekic, a 28-year-old who is No. 21 in the rankings, takes a silver home. She was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last month, then defeated U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff, the No. 2 seed, in the third round in Paris.
