Paris 2024 women’s singles winners & losers: Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff fall flat as Zheng Qinwen & Donna Vekic star

Oli Dickson Jefford 03 Aug 2024 5:25 PM

Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic lead our Paris 2024 big winners

The dust has settled on what was a dramatic women’s singles event at Paris 2024.

Once again there was a surprise final, contested between Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic, as the Olympics remained one of the trickiest events in tennis to navigate.

We look back at the women’s event – and highlight our winners and losers.

Big Winners

Zheng Qinwen: Truly an astonishing run for Qinwen. Her epics against Emma Navarro and Angelique Kerber will live long in the memory, as will her semi-final and final triumphs over Iga Swiatek and Donna Vekic. A superstar is born.

Donna Vekic: It was a disappointing final for Vekic, but it has been a career-best summer. A Wimbledon semi-final and Olympic silver medal within the space of a few weeks is remarkable.

Angelique Kerber: What a way for a true great of the game to bow out. Kerber secured eye-catching wins over Naomi Osaka and Leylah Fernandez, before pushing Qinwen to the brink in a ‘match of the year’ contender.

Barbora Krejcikova: There was no medal for the Wimbledon champion, but a run to the quarter-final proved the world No 2 has successfully reset thanks to that SW19 win. Let’s see what she can do across the rest of the year.

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Big Losers

Iga Swiatek: The world No 1 recovered to win a bronze medal, but her semi-final loss to Qinwen may be one of the most painful losses of her career. Swiatek clearly struggled with the pressure of being the overwhelming gold medal favourite.

Coco Gauff: Line call controversy aside, a round three exit for Gauff was not up to scratch. After performing so well at the biggest events early in 2024, she did not make the quarter-final here or at Wimbledon.

Jasmine Paolini: Expectations were high for the Italian coming in and though she medalled in singles, a round three loss to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in singles was a disappointment. The quarters seemed like the minimum expected for her.

Jessica Pegula: A rather underwhelming year continued for Pegula, who was beaten in round two by Elina Svitolina – despite leading by a set. Pressure now comes with big points to defend across the rest of the year.

Winner…and Loser?

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: The world No 67 stunned the tennis world by reaching the last four, downing Krejcikova and Paolini on her way. But, she ultimately left without a medal. Tough to assess how that might feel.