Follow the latest news on the 2024 Paris Olympics
World No 1 and gold medal favourite Iga Swiatek of Poland was left in tears as she fell to a shock defeat to China’s Zheng Qinwen in her Paris Olympics singles semi-final at Roland Garros on Thursday.
But Spain's No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz safely negotiated his way into the last four of the men's draw after beating Tommy Paul of the USA.
After her 6-2, 7-5 defeat, which brought to a halt a 25-match winning streak on the red clay of Paris, Swiatek broke down in tears and later said she had "messed up".
"I had a hole in my backhand," she told Eurosport Poland. "It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid stroke."
Swiatek, who has won four French Open titles in Paris in the past five years, held a 6-0 career record against Zheng, but the 23-year-old clay court specialist produced one of her worst displays of the season, making 36 unforced errors against her opponent's 15.
"I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that," Swiatek said.
"I know that’s not the justification but I tried to correct that during the match. Today it didn’t work at all. So she used that to win the game."
The Pole was 4-0 up in the second set and looked on course to square the match at one set apiece until Zheng reeled off four games in a row before clinching the set to take the victory.
The last time Swiatek was beaten at Roland Garros was in the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2021 when she lost to Maria Sakkari. The best she can hope for now is a bronze medal.
Australian Open finalist Zheng, the No 7 seed, is the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic tennis final.
She will face either Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or Croatia's Donna Vekic in the showpiece.
Afterwards, Zheng said: "I'm so happy that I could make this history for China tennis because I always wanted to be one of the athletes who got a medal for China and now I'm one of them.
"But I know the fight is not over. It's not the end. The tournament is very long. So I'm really happy but at the same time I'm waiting for more. Of course, I have made history already but I don't want to stop here."
Alcaraz reached the semi-finals after a 6-3, 7-6 victory over American Paul but was made to work for his win.
After taking the first set comfortably, the No 2 seed had to come from a break down in the second set before winning it on a tiebreak.
The Spaniard, who has won the French Open and Wimbledon already this year, came through 9-7 in the decider. It guarantees him at least a bronze in his first ever appearance at the Games.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz will face either Casper Ruud or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the gold medal match.
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Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
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More on Quran memorisation:
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
