Zheng vs Vekic: 2024 Paris Olympics Gold Medal Match Analysis

Winners in set 1, unforced errors in set 2 and a sea of red flags in the stands propelled Qinwen Zheng to a historic gold medal.

credit: ITF Tennis twitter

Pushed on by a sea of red flags in the stands, Qinwen Zheng made history on the red clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier by becoming the first tennis singles Olympic champion and gold-medalist for China.

A straight-sets win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic concluded Zheng’s Olympic run that was rich in challenges:

1. Zheng came up with a booming serve to save match point in the Round of 16 against Emma Navarro. It was a big-time shot that kickstarted a comeback from 6-7 3-5 down all the way to victory in the longest match of the event, at 3h12min.

2. Her following match was a 3h07min scrap (the second longest match of the event) that brought an end to Angelique Kerber’s career. Zheng needed yet another comeback, this time from 1-4 down in the third set. She also stood two points from defeat once again, at 6:6 in the deciding set tie-break, right after failing to convert 3 consecutive match points. Those were incredibly intense moments but Zheng remained brave, hitting a drop shot winner that set up the 4th and decisive match point.

3. Awaiting Zheng in the semi-finals was her biggest test, in the form of a 7th career meeting against Iga Swiatek. Swiatek was the overwhelming favourite for gold, was on a 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros Stadium and had never lost to Zheng.

To overcome all these obstacles and reach new levels, Zheng drew on her deep connection with the Olympics and a strong feeling about representing her country.

The top-ranked Chinese confessed her experience at this year’s Australian Open final, her debut in a Major final, helped for the gold medal match. This time, instead of succumbing to nerves, Zheng was calm, confident and able to play high-quality tennis.

Such emotional state contrasted with Vekic’s tension and set the tone for the early stages of the match. Zheng began with 2 unreturned serves and a couple of winning forehands en route to an emphatic hold. Vekic revealed her tightness by missing an overhead and 3 forehand groundstrokes to surrender her first serve game. An early deficit she would never recover from as Zheng won all 5 break points played during the opening set.

Set 1 Break Points

• Zheng: 2-for-2 (100%)

• Vekic: 0-for-3 (0%)

Each of these big points ended up reflecting major match traits, as we discuss next.