It only took ten minutes of play for Iga Świątek to make maybe 10 good plays, to take a 3-0 lead, and to give everyone hope that this would be a smooth ride to victory. That's how it started. And it will end with the Pole fighting for an Olympic medal! Along the way, with bumps and a lot of nerves, the world's best tennis player defeated Danielle Collins (6-1, 2-6, 4-1, 30-15, and the American's retirement) and has now reached the semifinals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games!
Collins is currently ranked ninth in the WTA rankings. She’s having an excellent season. Before Wednesday's clash with Iga, she had 42 wins and only 12 losses this year (Iga: 50-5). She had never achieved such a record before. And she’s been playing tennis for a while now. This 30-year-old plans to retire at the end of the year. She certainly had the desire to win an Olympic medal. But she was unlucky because she faced someone who wants that medal perhaps more than anyone else in the world.
Papa Świątek Almost Has What He Wanted
Iga Świątek is the daughter of Tomasz Świątek. For the Olympic story of Iga, this is perhaps even more important than the fact that she has already won four Roland Garros tournaments, and this Olympic event is being played on the Roland Garros courts.
Papa Świątek competed in the Seoul Olympics in 1988. With his teammates in the quadruple sculls, he finished seventh. His crew won the B final with such an excellent time that it would have earned them a bronze medal in the A final. Of course, in rowing, it's hard to compare times from two entirely different races. But it's easy to understand that a father who longed for an Olympic medal passed that desire on to his daughter.
Apparently, Papa Świątek chose individual sports for his daughters—Iga and her older sister Agata—so that their achievements would depend solely on them. Agata was also a tennis player. Reportedly, she was very hardworking but a bit less talented and not as healthy as Iga. In any case, Iga is where she is today, having won many great titles and earned a lot of money, but she dreams of that one thing she doesn’t have yet.
