TENNIS – Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal when she held off Croatia’s Donna Vekic for a 6-2 6-3 win in a tense final yesterday.
The 21-year-old sixth seed was given enthusiastic backing by a sizeable Chinese contingent inside Roland Garros’s Court Philippe Chatrier and responded with a composed performance.
Vekic, herself bidding to become Croatia’s first Olympic singles champion, battled hard to try to turn around the match but failed to capitalise on her opportunities.
Zheng was not at her sparkling best but raised her game when required to come through several lengthy games to land the biggest prize of her career.
Serving for the match at 5-3, Zheng reached match points as Vekic drove a backhand wide and finished it off with a well-placed forehand winner before falling to her back with joy.
China’s only other gold medal in Olympic tennis came in 2004 when Li Ting and Sun Tian-Tian won the women’s doubles in Athens while the best previous singles performance was Li Na’s run to the semi-finals in 2008, although she missed out on a medal.
Zheng, runner-up at the Australian Open this year, now looks capable of scaling the same heights as Li Na who claimed two Grand Slam titles during her illustrious career.
Poland’s Swiatek finished with the bronze medal after beating Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 on Friday.
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