Iga Swiatek beat Qinwen Zheng to reach the Indian Wells semi-final (Image: Getty)
has confessed that she was out for “revenge” when she faced Qinwen Zheng in Indian Wells. The world No. 2 suffered one of her most devastating losses to Zheng in the Olympics semi-final last summer, costing her the chance to play for a gold medal. Swiatek was in tears after the match.
But the defending champion in Indian Wells flipped the script when they met again in Thursday’s quarter-final, earning a straightforward 6-3 6-3 victory. Afterwards, Swiatek admitted she had something to prove to herself and everyone else after her Olympics heartbreak.
Swiatek was the favourite to win Olympic gold in Paris last summer, with the tennis event being held at Stade Roland Garros. As a four-time French Open champion, many expected her to clinch victory for Poland.
But the world No. 2 suffered a shock 6-2 7-5 defeat to Zheng in the semi-final and struggled to deal with the loss. She refused to shake the umpire’s hand and later
Zheng went on to win the gold medal, and Swiatek regrouped to win bronze. At the time, she revealed that she “probably cried for six hours” after the match and said it felt “like somebody really broke my heart”.
The five-time Grand Slam champion had already beaten Zheng five times in the past, but that didn’t stop her from seeking revenge when they faced off in Indian Wells on Thursday – their first meeting since the Olympics semi-final.
Iga Swiatek left a TV interview in tears after losing to Qinwen Zheng at the Olympics last year (Image: Eurosport)
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Asked whether the high-profile defeat made her even more determined, Swiatek replied: “For sure it does. I want to show myself and everybody that I can do it, and I already knew before the Olympics match, I know now.
“But yeah, it’s not nice to lose to anybody, so for sure you want to have a little, I don’t know, like revenge, but it’s nothing personal. I think every player has that against everybody who they lose [to] before.”
However, the match wasn’t on Swiatek’s mind when she met Zheng in the Californian desert. “Besides the fact that this was the only match that I lost against Qinwen and I wanted to learn from it, it didn’t really cross my mind that much,” she explained.
“Because I knew that this is on hard court and I knew what I did wrong on the Olympics.
“Honestly, I would say that clay didn’t help me on the Olympics, because these high spinny balls that came into place, it’s much easier to go forward and to play them when you know exactly how the ball is going to bounce.
“On clay, you can’t really do that. For sure, it was tricky then. Here I thought it’s gonna be more clear, and that’s what happened.”
Swiatek now has a 6-1 overall head-to-head record against Zheng. She is two wins away from retaining her title in Indian Wells and takes on Mirra Andreeva.
It will be another grudge match for the Pole – Andreeva upset her at last month’s Dubai Championships. “For sure there is a lot to analyse and to learn from,” Swiatek said of her recent loss to the teenager.