Iga Swiatek cried for complete six hours after losing the semifinal match to Qinwen Zheng

Winning an Olympic gold medal is Iga Swiatek‘s dream. So when Qinwen Zheng shattered that dream in the semifinals, the 23-year-old cried for six hours as if someone had broken her heart. Swiatek also claimed that the loss taught her to show “humility.”

I probably cried for like six hours yesterday. It was really tough. I don’t know, sometimes it feels like it’s sport and it’s tennis and usually I’m able to have the distance to all of it and just understand that it’s only one part of my life but this time it was like somebody really broke my heart, you know?

Swiatek added that because of her ranking and wins in recent times, she thought she could handle everything, and became a “bit arrogant“. However, losing the match to Zheng made her realize her mistake and has motivated her to work harder and improve herself.

This was the Pole’s second appearance at the Olympics, as she previously took part in the 2020 Tokyo Games in both singles and mixed doubles. In singles, she lost to Spain’s Paula Badosa in second-round, while in mixed doubles, her campaign ended in the quarterfinals.