Top-seeded Swiatek captures Olympic bronze medal

World No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland will leave the 2024 Paris Olympics with the bronze medal in women’s singles.

Swiatek defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1 in Friday’s bronze-medal match at Roland Garros, becoming the first tennis player from Poland to win an Olympic medal.

Olympics: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

Swiatek needed just 59 minutes to get past 67th-ranked Schmiedlova on Court Philippe Chatrier, which is quite a familiar location for the 23-year-old Pole. Swiatek has won four French Open championships in the last five years in this arena.

Regrouping in Paris: Swiatek found herself in the bronze-medal match after suffering a defeat to No.6 seed Zheng Qinwen of China in Thursday’s semifinals.

The upset was only the third loss Swiatek has taken at Roland Garros. It also snapped Swiatek’s 20-match winning streak on clay.

However, Swiatek refused to yield again, clinching victory in her first career meeting with former Top 30 player Schmiedlova on Friday. Combining her 5-1 record this week with all of her French Open heroics, Swiatek is 40-3 lifetime at Roland Garros.

Career-defining event for Schmiedlova: Meanwhile, it was still a memorable week for 29-year-old veteran Schmiedlova, despite finishing just outside the medals.

The Slovak beat Top 10 players in back-to-back matches for the first time in her career this week, stunning 2024 Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini and 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova to make the medal rounds.

Match breakdown: Schmiedlova started ahead, as the unseeded player broke Swiatek for an early 2-1 lead. However, Swiatek immediately broke back, kickstarting a six-game winning streak. Swiatek won nearly 60 percent of points on return in the opening set.

Swiatek used her heavy forehand to force an error and break for 3-1 in the second set, and the world’s top-ranked player eased home from there, winning the last five games and claiming her country’s first tennis medal.

After dropping serve in the third game of the clash, Swiatek never faced another break point. The five-time Grand Slam champion converted five of her seven break points in the bronze-medal showdown.