Zheng and Vekic back to back before facing each other in the Olympic final (1-1)
This was definitely not the final we were expecting in the women's singles event at the Paris Olympic Games.
Faced with Iga Swiatek's ultra-domination on the surface, everyone expected her to win gold. In the end, she fell in the semi-final and will have to be content with bronze, which she won on Friday. So it's 21-year-old Qinwen Zheng, ranked 7th in the world, who will be out to dominate a Dona Vekic who seems to be unstoppable.
In a final that is as intriguing as it is unpredictable, neither player will have the advantage of confrontation, as the two women have only met twice before, with one victory each.
The Croatian won her first meeting in Courmayeur in 2021 (7-6, 6-2), while the Chinese player had not even entered the world's top 150. Two years later, it was Zheng who emerged victorious from their reunion in Zuhai in 2023 (6-4, 6-7, 6-4).
So, given the lack of history and the absence of a clay-court encounter, it's hard to say which of the two players will have the psychological edge over the other, although the Chinese player seems a little more at ease on ochre.
See you this afternoon to find out which of these two champions will take the gold!
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