Iga Swiatek tearfully gives excuse for crushing defeat by Qinwen Zheng at Olympics after storming off court

Iga Swiatek opened up about her unexpected Olympic semi-final loss to Qinwen Zheng but was too overcome with emotion to finish. The top-ranked player hadn't experienced a setback at Stade Roland Garros since 2021 until Zheng put an end to her impressive run of 25 consecutive victories on the famous Parisian clay.

Swiatek showed signs of frustration following her 6-2, 7-5 defeat, disputing a crucial call on match point which led her to avoid the traditional handshake with the chair umpire .

She rationalised her performance later by stating that she wasn't "well positioned" throughout the match and criticised the scheduling at the Olympic event.

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Swiatek's pursuit for the coveted Olympic gold came to a halt in the semi-final match against Zheng. Although the 23-year-old has a shot at the bronze medal, the toll of the loss was evident in her emotional state afterwards.

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The No. 1 seed engaged with just one television interview before breaking down in tears and deciding to bypass the remaining media obligations.

During her brief interaction, she attempted to justify her defeat and voiced grievances over the rigorous daily play schedule imposed by the Olympics.

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Prior to Thursday's match-up, Swiatek held a 6-0 record over Zheng. Addressing commentator Pawel Kuwik's observation about Zheng finding answers to Swiatek's game during their clash at the Olympics, she acknowledged to Eurosport Poland: "Without any doubts. In fact she played... I just had a hole in my backhand. It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid strike."

Then, the five-time Grand Slam winner elaborated on how the succession of daily games impacted her technique, noting that this was something Zheng exploited to her benefit. "I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day," Swiatek further commented.

"We didn't have time to adjust that and work on that. 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."

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Swiatek was leading 4-0 in the second set before the 21-year-old staged a comeback and won four games consecutively. Zheng broke again and served out a 6-2 7-5 victory to reach the final and secure herself a medal.

When asked about her drop from 4-0 up, Swiatek responded: "It's the result of the match. So I just messed up."

She then lowered her head and began to cry, walking to the wall and covering her face with her hands.

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The Chinese star gave her own take on her comeback after being a double-break down in set two. "I think the key is just to play every single point because I remember before when I'm at this stage, I let the match go. I say 'OK, I lose this set and let's fight for the third set'. But today, no, I don't use this mentality," she clarified.

"I say (instead) 'I'm just going to fight for every single point. Let's see what's going to happen. I'm going to play smart, wait for my chance'. Gradually, I started to get back into the match. There's still a lot of competition inside (me). I just feel right now I'm more patient with tennis. I found my level there."

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