Poland’s Iga Swiatek admitted she cried for six hours after losing in the semi-finals of the Olympics but she returned to court on Friday to console herself by winning the bronze medal.
The 23-year-old took out her frustration on Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, winning 6-2, 6-1 at Roland Garros to become the first Polish player to get an Olympic medal in tennis.
The five-time Grand Slam champion had been a strong favourite for gold but suffered a shock semi-final defeat by China’s Zheng Qinwen on Thursday.
Swiatek broke down in tears following her error-strewn loss to Zheng and while the bronze was not the colour she was expecting on her return to her favourite venue, at least it put a smile back on her face. “I think if I hadn’t played today I would cry for a week, so I needed to get it together,” she said.
“I probably cried for like six hours on Friday so, yeah, it was really tough. Sometimes it feels like it’s sport and it’s tennis and usually I’m able to have a distance to all of it and just understand that it’s only one part of my life. But this time it was like somebody really broke my heart, so it’s crazy, honestly.”
Swiatek, dubbed the Queen of Clay, said that the expectation levels had weighed her down during the Olympic tournament.
“I actually realised yesterday that I wasn’t really playing for myself, I was more playing for everybody else, for the country, for my team, for everybody that hoped that I’m going to win a medal and probably win a gold medal,” the four-time French Open champion said. “I wasn’t quite aware how deep it was in me and how much baggage that was. I know that I haven’t been playing my A-game here probably. I wasn’t feeling like I can move really naturally and in a way that I’m used to on clay. I’m happy anyway that I pushed through that and I’m here with a bronze medal.”
