Olympic tennis 2024: Iga Swiatek still the one to beat as women’s semifinals set

Iga Swiatek has to contend with the likes of Qinwen Zheng, while Donna Vekic faces Anna Karolina Schmiedlová in the women’s semifinals at the Paris Olympics.

Tennis at the 2024 Paris Olympics is rapidly reaching a conclusion, as the women’s singles semifinals are now completely set. Top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland will face the sixth-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China in one half of the bracket, while Croatia’s Donna Vekic will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlová of Slovakia in the other.

While tennis at the Olympics is like a single elimination Grand Slam, the two losers of the semifinal matchups won’t simply be going home as in a Slam — they’ll face each other in a bronze medal matchup to try and add to their country’s totals.

Both semifinal matchups are set for Thursday morning on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros and will be available to view live streaming on Peacock. The first matchup, between Swiatek and Zheng, is set for about 9:20 a.m. ET, while the second will be in the afternoon, currently set for 3 p.m. ET.

Swiatek is the heavy favorite to win as a clay court specialist with a history of dominating at Roland Garros, home of the French Open. She’s won three consecutive titles at Roland Garros and four of the last five. This would be her first gold medal if she can make it past Zheng and then the winner of Schmiedlová/Vekic. Swiatek did participate in the 2020 Olympics but was eliminated in the second round.

She’s coming off a quarterfinal matchup against Danielle Collins, an American competing in her final Olympics and final season overall. Collins was dealing with an injury and while she took the second set, she ultimately had to withdraw while down 4-1 in the third set, with Swiatek taking the victory at 6-1, 2-6, 4-1.

Zheng is the sixth seed and is herself coming off a very narrow three-set victory over Angelique Kerber of Germany. Zheng ultimately won the match, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(6). Kerber, like Collins, will not be participating in the next Olympics and is calling it a career after her elimination. Zheng, 21, will be Swiatek’s toughest test of these Olympics, though she has never beaten Swiatek in six career meetings, including two on clay.

In the other half of the bracket, Vekic and Schmiedlová are both familiar names in tennis, though neither received much consideration for gold medal speculation before these Olympics started. Vekic is ranked No. 21 in the world in singles play, and has no Grand Slam semifinal victories to her name and just one appearance — in Wimbledon barely a month ago. Schmiedlová is ranked No. 67 in the world and has never even appeared in a Grand Slam quarterfinals in singles play. Neither were expected to be here, but both have looked excellent throughout this tournament.

Over the years, Schmiedlová and Vekic have only faced each other one time previously, with Vekic taking a straight-set victory all the way back in 2018 on hard courts. Schmiedlová is coming off a straight-sets victory over Barbora Krejcikova, 6-4, 6-2. Vekic was pushed to a third set tiebreak against Marta Kostyuk, winning 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(8).

Women’s singles semifinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics

No. 1 Iga Swiatek vs. No. 6 Qinwen Zheng (9:20 a.m. ET approx.)
Anna Karolina Schmiedlová vs. No. 13 Donna Vekic (3 p.m. ET approx)