Zheng stuns Swiatek at Olympics as Alcaraz closes in on Djokovic clash

Zheng Qinwen makes history by reaching Olympic final; Alcaraz advances, while Zverev crashes out to Musetti.

Zheng Qinwen ended Iga Swiatek's 25-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros on Thursday to become the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic Games singles final as Carlos Alcaraz marched closer to a showdown with Novak Djokovic.

Defending champion Alexander Zverev, however, crashed out, losing his quarter-final to a fired-up Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.

Seventh-ranked Zheng triumphed 6-2, 7-5 over world number one Swiatek and will face either Croatia's Donna Vekic or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the gold medal match.

"I feel more than just happy -- happy isn't enough to describe how I feel," said Zheng, who had played back-to-back three-hour matches to make the semi-final.

"If you ask me to play another three hours for my country, I would. It was an amazing match. To beat Iga is not easy."

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion at Roland Garros, went into the match at a sweltering Court Philippe Chatrier having not lost in Paris since 2021.

The 23-year-old had also defeated Zheng in all of their six previous meetings.