Iga Swiatek avenged her disappointing loss in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics by securing the bronze medal in a convincing victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. The Polish player triumphed with a scoreline of 6-2, 6-1, making her the fourth player to claim a medal while ranked as the world number 1 since the official WTA ranking system was introduced.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka returned to the court at the WTA 500 tournament in Washington after her absence from Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury. Following a challenging match against Kamilla Rakhimova, during which she displayed signs of nervousness and frequently communicated with her team, the Belarusian player emerged victorious in the derby against Victoria Azarenka with a straight-set score of 6-4, raising her performance level noticeably. Sabalenka now finds herself just one step away from reaching the final at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where she will face off against American Marie Bouzkova in the semifinals.
Despite opting not to participate in the Paris Olympic Games, Sabalenka openly addressed a question about Iga Swiatek’s defeat in the semifinals against Qinwen Zheng (the Chinese player who recently clinched the gold medal). “I don’t want to speak negatively about the other players. However, I must admit that I had anticipated Iga Swiatek to win the gold medal at the Olympics. Paris is her preferred venue. That was the outcome I had expected, but the other players are performing exceptionally well,” Sabalenka stated during the press conference.
Among players who have competed in 10 or more matches on clay since 2023, Qinwen Zheng (77.1%, 27-8) ranks fourth in terms of win percentage at the WTA level. She is surpassed only by Iga Swiatek (91.7%), Elena Rybakina (85.2%), and Aryna Sabalenka (80.6%). Impressive statistics indeed.
Photo by Iga Swiatek Instagram
