Zheng Qinwen defeated Vekic in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to win the women's singles gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The highly-anticipated final, which took place at 21:30 p.m. on August 3 at the Roland · Garros Stadium in Paris, marked the first time a Chinese tennis player won a gold medal in an Olympic singles event.
As China's new generation of tennis hopeful, the 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen has shown amazing strength and psychological quality at this Olympic Games.
She made it all the way, beating world No. 1 Swiatek of Poland in straight sets in the semifinals to earn her a ticket to the final.
The final opponent, Vekic is an experienced Croatia player ranked 21st in the world.
The two have met twice before, winning one each.
In the 2021 tournament in Courmayeur, Zheng Qinwen, who was still a rookie at the time, lost 0-2 to Vekic.
But at the small year-end tournament held in Zhuhai last year, Zheng Qinwen successfully took revenge through a hard-fought three-set battle.
Such a history of confrontation has added a lot of suspense and anticipation to this Olympic final.
At the beginning of the match, Zheng Qinwen showed strong form and determination to win.
Her serve was steady and powerful, and her baseline volleys were precise and sharp, frequently pinning Vekic into passive positions.
In the first set, Zheng Qinwen quickly took a 3-0 lead.
Although Vekic then fought back, Zheng Qinwen still played well, and finally won the first set 6-2.
In the second set, Zheng Qinwen continued his good momentum and broke again in the opening stage.
Vekic tried to adjust his tactics and strengthened his attack in front of the net, at one point chasing the score to a 3-3 draw.
Zheng Qinwen showed a psychological quality beyond his age, responded calmly at the critical moment, and won the next game 6-3 after consecutive breaks, and finally won the gold medal with a total score of 2-0.
This victory is not only an important milestone in Zheng Qinwen's personal career, but also an important node in the history of Chinese tennis.
Since the 2004 Athens Olympics Li Ting
Since Sun Tiantian's combination won the women's doubles gold medal, Chinese tennis players have not been able to break through in the singles event at the Olympics.
Zheng Qinwen's gold medal not only fills this gap, but also injects strong confidence into the future development of Chinese tennis.
After the game, Vekic spoke highly of Zheng Qinwen's performance in an interview.
She said that Zheng Qinwen's performance in the match was very good, especially in the grasp of key points and the ability to adapt on clay court was impressive.
Vekic believes that Zheng Qinwen fully deserves the gold medal and predicts that the young Chinese player will achieve more in the tennis arena in the future.
Zheng Qinwen's success is not accidental.
For almost two years, she has climbed the world rankings and is now in the top 10.
In this season's Australia Open, Zheng Qinwen reached the women's singles final, setting a new record for Chinese players.
This outstanding performance at the Olympics is further proof that she has become one of the top athletes in the world.
For Zheng Qinwen, this gold medal is not only a symbol of honor, but also a reward for years of hard training and unremitting efforts.
Having shown her talent for tennis since she was a child, she embarked on the path of professional tennis step by step with the support of her parents and coach.
Despite the setbacks and doubts along the way, Zheng Qinwen has always maintained his love for tennis and his desire to win.
The success of this Olympic Games will undoubtedly bring more confidence and motivation to Zheng Qinwen.
She said after the competition that she not only gained valuable experience through this competition, but also learned how to stay calm and focused under high pressure.
These will be important assets in her future career.
From a broader perspective, Zheng Qinwen's victory has far-reaching implications for the development of tennis in China.
It will not only inspire more young people to devote themselves to tennis, but also win more attention and respect for Chinese tennis on the international stage.
The weight of this gold medal far exceeds its weight.
We also need to recognize that success once and for all is not meant to be done once and for all.
Tennis is an extremely competitive sport that requires constant hard work and improvement to maintain a long-term advantage in the world's top tournaments.
For Zheng, the gold medal should be a new start in her career, not the end.
In the future, Zheng Qinwen will face more challenges.
How to maintain consistent performance under high expectations, how to deal with the targeted tactics of other players, and how to maintain physical and mental health in the midst of a busy schedule are all issues that she needs to solve.
At the same time, she needs to continue to refine her skills, especially her adaptability on different types of venues.
From a broader perspective, Chinese tennis needs to build a sustainable system, not only to produce top players like Zheng Qinwen, but also to have more outstanding players to achieve good results at all levels of the tournament.
This needs to start from many aspects such as youth training, coach training, and the construction of the tournament system to systematically promote the development of Chinese tennis.
Zheng Qinwen's gold medal at the Paris Olympics is not only a great personal achievement, but also an important milestone in the development of Chinese tennis.
It proves that the Chinese are more than capable of competing against any opponent at the top level of the world.
This victory will inspire more Chinese tennis players to strive for excellence, and will also attract more resources and attention to the sport.
We also need to stay awake.
A gold medal is significant, but the real success is a consistent, consistent high level of performance.
For Zheng Qinwen personally, how to continue to improve after this success and avoid complacency will be an important test.
For the Chinese tennis community, how to take advantage of the opportunity brought by this victory to promote the all-round development of the entire project is also a question that needs to be seriously considered.
We look forward to seeing Zheng continue to shine on the court in the future, and we also hope to see more Chinese tennis players emerge on the international stage."
This gold medal is not the end, but a new beginning.
Let's look forward to a more brilliant future for Chinese tennis!
Zheng Qinwen's gold medal is not only an important milestone in her career, but also an important node in the history of Chinese tennis.
This victory has injected strong confidence in the future development of Chinese tennis and made people look forward to the future of Chinese tennis.
A netizen commented: Zheng Qinwen's victory gave me hope for Chinese tennis.
Not only is she technically well-rounded, but she also has excellent mental qualities.
Against world No. 1 Swiatek, she showed composure beyond her years.
This mental quality is the key to becoming a top player.
I'm sure she'll do more wonders in the future.
Zheng Qinwen's performance at this Olympics was impressive.
Not only did she show her all-round strength in terms of technique, but more importantly, her ability to control the psychology at critical moments.
This kind of mental quality is a necessary condition to become a world-class player, and it is also something that many Chinese players have lacked in the past.
Zheng Qinwen's success may mark a qualitative leap forward for Chinese tennis players in this regard.
We also need to recognize that one-time success does not mean long-term advantage.
Tennis is an extremely competitive sport that requires constant hard work and improvement to maintain a long-term advantage in the world's top tournaments.
For Zheng, the gold medal should be a new start in her career, not the end.
Some netizens pointed out that Zheng Qinwen's success is not only her personal efforts, but also the success of the entire Chinese tennis system.
From her growth experience, it can be seen that Chinese tennis has made great progress in youth training, coach training, and competition system construction.
This has laid the foundation for cultivating more excellent players like Zheng Qinwen in the future.
This view is insightful.
Zheng Qinwen's success is indeed inseparable from the support of the Chinese tennis system.
In recent years, Chinese tennis has invested a lot of resources in youth training, and has established a complete training system from the grassroots to the top.
At the same time, through the introduction of top international coaches and the holding of high-level international competitions, the overall level of Chinese tennis has been continuously improved.
Zheng Qinwen's success can be said to be the result of this series of efforts.
In the future, Zheng Qinwen will face more challenges.
How to maintain consistent performance under high expectations, how to deal with the targeted tactics of other players, and how to maintain physical and mental health in the midst of a busy schedule are all issues that she needs to solve.
At the same time, she needs to continue to refine her skills, especially her adaptability on different types of venues.
A netizen commented: Zheng Qinwen's success has given us a lot of confidence, but we must also be wary of the pressure caused by excessive expectations.
We should give her more time and space to grow instead of expecting her to win every competition.
Tennis is a sport that requires long-term accumulation, and we need to be patient.
This view is valuable.
It is true that high expectations can put unnecessary pressure on young players.
We should look at Zheng Qinwen's success rationally, give her enough support and encouragement, and at the same time give her room to grow.
After all, she is still young and has a long way to go in the future.
From a broader perspective, Chinese tennis needs to build a sustainable system, not only to produce top players like Zheng Qinwen, but also to have more outstanding players to achieve good results at all levels of the tournament.
This needs to start from many aspects such as youth training, coach training, and the construction of the tournament system to systematically promote the development of Chinese tennis.
Some netizens proposed: Zheng Qinwen's success should be an opportunity to promote the popularity of tennis in China.
We should take this opportunity to attract more young people to participate in tennis and lay a broader foundation for the future development of tennis in China.
This advice is insightful.
Zheng Qinwen's success will undoubtedly spark more Chinese teenagers to take an interest in tennis.
We should seize this opportunity to promote tennis throughout the country, establish more tennis courts, and carry out more youth tennis activities.
Only by allowing more people to participate in this sport can Chinese tennis have broader development prospects.
At the same time, we should also note that the development of tennis requires not only top players, but also a complete industrial chain.
Including event organization, player brokerage, sporting goods manufacturing and other aspects.
Zheng Qinwen's success has provided new opportunities for the development of China's tennis industry, and we should make full use of this opportunity to promote the upgrading and development of the entire industry chain.
A netizen commented: Zheng Qinwen's success has given me hope for Chinese sports.
Not only do we stay ahead of the curve in traditional sports, but we are also starting to make a name for ourselves in international mainstream sports like tennis.
This shows that China's sports are developing to a higher level and a wider range.
This view is insightful.
Zheng Qinwen's success does represent a new breakthrough in Chinese sports.
For a long time, China has maintained its advantages in table tennis, badminton and other sports, but it has been difficult to make breakthroughs in international mainstream sports such as tennis and football.
Zheng Qinwen's gold medal marks that Chinese sports are moving to a higher level.
Zheng Qinwen's gold medal at the Paris Olympics is not only a great personal achievement, but also an important milestone in the development of Chinese tennis.
It proves that the Chinese are more than capable of competing against any opponent at the top level of the world.
This victory will inspire more Chinese tennis players to strive for excellence, and will also attract more resources and attention to the sport.
We also need to stay awake.
A gold medal is significant, but the real success is a consistent, consistent high level of performance.
For Zheng Qinwen personally, how to continue to improve after this success and avoid complacency will be an important test.
For the Chinese tennis community, how to take advantage of the opportunity brought by this victory to promote the all-round development of the entire project is also a question that needs to be seriously considered.
We look forward to seeing Zheng continue to shine on the court in the future, and we also hope to see more Chinese tennis players emerge on the international stage."
This gold medal is not the end, but a new beginning.
Let's look forward to a more brilliant future for Chinese tennis!