China's Zheng Qinwen defeated Croatia's Donna Vekić in the final, 6–2, 6–3 to win the gold medal in women's singles tennis at the 2024 Summer Olympics. It was China's first victory in the women's singles, the country's first gold medal in Olympic tennis since the women's doubles in 2004, the first singles gold medal for an Asian country in Olympic tennis, and also the first women's singles medal for Croatia.[1][2][3] Zheng and Vekic each saved a match point en route to the championship match.[4]
By beating Iga Świątek in the semifinal, 6–2, 7–5 Zheng became the first player to beat Świątek at Stade Roland Garros since 2021 as well as the first player to beat Świątek in straight sets on clay since Maria Sakkari in 2021.
In the bronze medal match, Poland's tournament No. 1 seed Iga Świątek defeated Slovakia's Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, 6–2, 6–1.[5] It was Poland's first medal in Olympic tennis.[6] Ranked No. 67, Schmiedlová became the lowest ranked semifinalist since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988 and the first Slovak woman to reach that stage.[7][8]
This tournament marked the final professional appearance of former world No. 1, 2016 silver medalist, and three-time major champion Angelique Kerber. She lost in the quarterfinals to Zheng.[14][15][16]
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) can enter up to four players. Nations are limited to four players in the event since the 2000 Games. Qualification for the women's singles is primarily through the WTA ranking list. There are 64 quota places available for women's singles.[10]
Competition format
The competition is a single-elimination tournament with a bronze medal match. Matches are best-of-3 sets. A tiebreak is played in all sets reaching 6–6, including the last set of a match.[17]
