Corinne Dubreuil/ABACAPRESS.COM
Qinwen Zheng vs Donna Vekic: Olympic Tennis tournament – Final
Qinwen Zheng from China and Donna Vekic from Croatia will play in the gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Qinwen Zheng Profile
Qinwen Zheng has the highest rankings of her career being No. 7 in the world. The Chinese is 31-12 for the season and 16-4 on clay.
Zheng is coming off a 6-2, 7-5 semifinal win over world No. 1, Iga Swiatek. Previously in the tournament, she defeated Angelique Kerber, Emma Navarro, Arantxa Rus and Sara Errani.
The week before the Olympics, Zheng won her first title of 2024, in Palermo. In January, she made it to her first Grand Slam final ever, but lost to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open.
Donna Vekic Profile
Donna Vekic is currently 21st in the WTA rankings, two spots lower than her career-high. The Croatian is 27-15 for the season and 8-4 on clay.
She is coming off a 6-4, 6-0 semifinal win over Karolina Schmiedlova. In the quarterfinal, she needed the decisive tiebreak to go past Marta Kostyuk. Earlier in the tournament, Vekic defeated Coco Gauff, Bianca Andreescu, and Lucia Bronzetti.
This is the second final for Vekic this season after she lost in Bad Homburg to Diana Schneider. She also made it to the semis at Wimbledon and Linz.
Head-to-Head Tied 1-1
- Zheng vs Vekic 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 (2023 WTA Elite Trophy)
- Vekic vs Zheng 7-6, 6-2 (2021 WTA Courmayeur, first round)
Prediction and Conclusion
Both players were one tie break away from being eliminated in the previous rounds of the tournament but beat the odds to make it all the way to the finals. No one could see any of them going this deep, and at the same time, no one could say that they did not deserve to play for Olympic gold. Zheng will definitely have more support at the Philip Chatrier Stadium on Saturday, which gives her a certain advantage. It will definitely be a tough match that can go either way, so we go with over 2.5 sets.
