Iga Swiatek Secures Spot in Olympic Semifinals with Victory over Danielle Collins in Paris Olympics 2024
Iga Swiatek, ranked number one in the world, defeated Danielle Collins, who withdrew from the Summer Olympics in Paris in the third set after suffering an injury to her abdominal muscle.
Collins withdrew with a 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 lead over Swiatek.
At the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, Iga Swiatek easily defeated Danielle Collins, who was suffering from an abdominal muscle ailment. Swiatek advanced to the semifinals, losing 6-1, 2-6, 4-1.
World No. 1 Swiatek advanced in two hours and four minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, but she greatly increased her chances of taking home a medal from the Games despite a setback in the second set against her eighth-seeded American opponent, who won a solid second set but faltered in the third.
Less than two months after winning her fourth Roland Garros, Swiatek was back in Paris and the prospect of playing twice on the terre battue in one season made her the clear favorite to win her first gold medal at her second Olympics. In her first tournament since her unexpected loss to Yulia Putintseva in the third round of Wimbledon ended her 21-match winning streak, the top seed cruised into the quarterfinals without dropping a set, defeating opponents such as Diane Parry, Irina-Camelia Begu, and Wang Xiyu in just 16 games.
Collins, who is expected to be playing her last season as a professional, was across the net, making her Olympic debut. Following a devastating loss to Swiatek at the Australian Open, Collins shocked everyone by announcing she would be retiring at the end of the year.
Since then, the American has been among the best players on the circuit. She advanced to her first clay-court WTA 1000 semifinal at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, won back-to-back titles at the Miami Open and Credit One Charleston Open, and experienced her first Wimbledon second week.
Despite being seeded eighth in Paris, Collins has persevered through her first three rounds, winning three sets over Colombia’s Camila Osorio and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki to secure her third meeting with Swiatek in 2024. Even though she lost their head-to-head match 1-6 (her only victory occurred in the Australian Open semifinals in 2022), two of their previous four meetings had ended in three sets, notably the Melbourne match described earlier in January, where Collins won the first set 4-1 thanks to a double-break edge.
In their most recent meeting at the BNP Paribas Open, Swiatek lost just three games to Collins. On Wednesday, she dominated the opening set and broke twice to move herself six games away from the medal rounds. It appeared as though Swiatek would secure a similarly swift victory.
Collins skillfully countered, claiming the second set 3-0 on her own and tying the match in an exciting eighth game.
When Swiatek misread a volley and was hit by Collins’ passing shot early in the decider, it seemed as though she was out of sorts. However, the Pole responded in her characteristic way and turned the tables on her opponent, breaking and holding to take a 2-0 lead.
Collins called a medical timeout after falling behind a double-break due to distraction, frustration, and a physical handicap. Even though Collins was on the board when she returned to court, she looked worried when she brought up the matter with the trainer during the next change of ends.
Collins decided she could no longer play after three points in the sixth game, advancing Swiatek to the semifinals where she will take on No. 6 seed Zheng Qinwen, who earlier in the day forced former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber into retirement.
