Qinwen Zheng wins China's first ever gold in tennis singles

PARIS -- Qinwen Zheng claimed China's first tennis singles gold medal in Olympic history by defeating Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 in the 2024 Paris Games women's final Saturday.

The 21-year-old Zheng displayed the same powerful serves and groundstrokes she used to eliminate No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and now has the biggest title of her career.

Not that Zheng hasn't shown plenty of promise already. She is ranked No. 7, after all, and was the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the hard-court Australian Open in January.

This, though, could make her a real star in her country. International Tennis Hall of Fame member Li Na is the only Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title -- at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open -- and served as inspiration for Zheng when she was a kid learning the sport.

"It's just unreal," Zheng said after signing several autographs for members of the crowd. "All my country will be proud of me. I will be proud of myself."

Novak Djokovic will play Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday for the men's singles gold.

The Paris Olympics tennis matches are being played at Roland Garros, the clay-court facility that hosts the annual French Open. Swiatek is a four-time champion at that event, including titles there the past three years, and carried a 25-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros into her matchup with Zheng. Swiatek ended up with the bronze for Poland.

Vekic, a 28-year-old who is No. 21 in the rankings, takes a silver home. She was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last month, then defeated US Open champion Coco Gauff, the No. 2 seed, in the third round in Paris.

There were moments where Vekic seemed spent, bending over and leaning on her racket to catch her breath.

Right before Zheng delivered the first serve of Saturday's contest at Court Philippe Chatrier, loud shouts of "Jia You!" in Mandarin rang out from all sections of the 15,000 capacity stadium as fans waved red-and-yellow flags. It's a phrase that literally means "Add oil!" -- in other words, "Hit the gas!" -- and is loosely equivalent to "Let's go!"

Those yells resumed right after Vekic's return nestled into the net, giving Zheng the initial point. And they could be heard over and over again whenever things went Zheng's way throughout the proceedings on a breezy, cloudy afternoon.

Which was rather often.

Zheng took 10 of the opening 12 points en route to a 3-0 lead, before Vekic finally grabbed a game.

Vekic's supporters in the stands tried to will her to better play, chanting "Don-na! Don-na!" while clapping in unison. But Zheng directed shots deep in the court, often right near lines, occasionally overwhelming Vekic, who can pound a tennis ball, too.

After Zheng forced an error with a huge forehand to break serve and own the first set, she soon went up 2-0 in the second. That's where Vekic made a bit of a stand, stealing one of Zheng's service games and getting to 2-all.

But -- with chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore asking spectators to refrain from making noise during points -- Zheng took control anew toward the end, breaking to lead 5-3. When she smacked another heavy forehand winner to close the win, she slid onto her back on the clay, then got a Chinese flag from the stands, held it like a cape to roars and draped it over her sideline chair.