Against Croatia’s Donna Vekić, Zheng produced a stunning display of powerful hitting on the clay of Roland Garros, triumphing 6-2, 6-3 in a hard-fought gold medal match. Upon winning match point, her delight was laid bare. Vekić, already making history as the first Croatian tennis player to reach an Olympic singles final, took longer to settle. “I’m really happy to be here, to have won the gold medal, to represent my country,” she added. “I’m supposed to become better, but after this gold medal, I feel I can finally play tennis a bit more relaxed.”Zheng’s path to the gold medal, not just because of her semifinal victory against bronze medalist Swiatek, has hardly been straightforward.

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Persons: Paris CNN — Zheng Qinwen, Donna Vekić, Zheng, Roland Garros, Don’t, Li Na, ” Zheng, Clive Brunskill, Zheng thumped, Vekić, Matthew Stockman, –, Zheng breezing, Li Ting, Sun Tiantian, ”, “, “ I’m, Swiatek, Emma Navarro, Angelique Kerber, Coco Gauff, Bianca Andreescu, ” Vekić Organizations: Paris CNN, Paris Olympics, Vekić, Olympics, Wimbledon Locations: Croatian, Olympics, Athens, Paris