By Martyn Herman
PARIS (Reuters) – Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal when she beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2 6-3 in a tense final at Roland Garros on Saturday.
The 21-year-old sixth seed was given raucous support by a sizeable Chinese contingent inside 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 Zheng deservedly claimed the biggest result 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.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek, the pre-tournament favourite but beaten by Zheng in the semi-finals, finished with the bronze medal after beating Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 on Friday.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
