Zheng stuns Swiatek in Olympics semi-finals

Zheng Qinwen (21) caused a sensation in the women's tennis world by defeating the top-ranked Iga Swiatek (2£) on Thursday, making her the first Chinese player to advance to an Olympic Games tennis singles final.

Seventh-ranked Zheng secured a 6-2, 7-5 victory and is now set to compete against either Croatia's Donna Vekic or Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the gold medal match.

"I am more than just happy - happy is not a strong enough word to describe how I feel," said Zheng, who had previously played two consecutive three-hour matches to reach the semi-final.

"If you were to ask me to play another three hours for my country, I would do it.

"It was an incredible match. Beating Iga is no easy feat, especially in such an important event for her."

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion at Roland Garros, entered Thursday's match with a 25-match winning streak in Paris.

In all six of their previous encounters, she had emerged victorious over Zheng.

Nevertheless, the powerful Australian Open finalist managed to overpower her, breaking the Pole's serve three times in the first set.

After a 10-minute break, Swiatek regained her composure and quickly took a 4-0 lead in the second set. However, Zheng fought back and managed to level the score at 4-4.

Despite Swiatek's errors, Zheng broke her serve again to take a 6-5 lead and ultimately won the match, winning seven consecutive games.

Zheng's advancement to the final makes her the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic singles gold medal match, surpassing Li Na's fourth-place finish in the women's event at Beijing in 2008.

Swiatek was left to lament her 36 unforced errors and six dropped service games in the match.