The rectangle of clay in the Philippe Chatrier Court has felt like Iga Swiatek’s private property in recent years as she has won four French Open titles, including the last three in a row.

But this is Roland Garros with a twist as Paris hosts the Olympics, and with the five rings for a backdrop, Swiatek was not the same irresistible force on Thursday against Zheng Qinwen of China.

Swiatek, the world’s No. 1 player by a large margin, was edgy from the start in this sundrenched semifinal: unable to find the angles and lines with the consistency that has become her trademark on the terre battue.

Zheng, the No. 6 seed, held much firmer and after rallying from 0-4 down in the second set, she closed out the most significant victory of her career and fell to her back on the clay.

Her 6-2, 7-5 victory, her first in seven matches against Swiatek, guaranteed her a medal in her first Olympics and after her latest bravura performance under pressure on Thursday she will be the rightful favorite in the final against Donna Vekic or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

“I finally showed I could beat the world No. 1 in her best surface, in the Roland Garros court,” Zheng said. “That means everything, because I always know I could do it. But it’s different that you know you can and that you show it. Today, I really show it. I’m so proud of myself. I am so proud for my country. I feel right now my mental is in another level.” 

While Zheng pursues gold, Swiatek will have to settle for at best a bronze. The Olympics have special resonance in her family. Her father Tomasz was an Olympic rower who competed in the quadruple sculls at the 1988 Games in Seoul for Poland.

With that close personal connection, Iga has long placed the Games on a pedestal. In her first Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, she lost to Paula Badosa in straight sets, breaking down in tears on court after the defeat.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ITF Tennis (@itftennis)

She was seeded No. 8 in those Games and had yet to establish herself as the top player in women’s tennis. But her expectations were higher this time, and she made the Olympics one of her main priorities in 2024. Though she would surely value any medal, the gold seemed a reasonable goal given her recent dominance in Paris.

There were more tears post-match on Thursday as she broke down during a broadcast interview with Eurosport Poland and then declined to speak with print reporters as she walked through the mixed zone.

She finished with 36 unforced errors to Zheng's 13: a huge differential. In the Eurosport interview, Swiatek said her backhand, usually the pillar of her attacking baseline game, had been her weak point.

“It happens rarely because it’s usually my most solid shot,” she said. “I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I play my matches on back-to-back days. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that. I know that’s not the justification, but I tried to correct that during the match. Today it didn’t work at all.”

While Swiatek regroups for the bronze-medal match, Zheng, just 21, will aim at the biggest title of her career on Saturday.

This has been a breakthrough season. Zheng reached her first major final in January at the Australian Open, losing to Aryna Sabalenka. That put Zheng into the top 10 but considering the emphasis that China puts on the Olympics, a gold medal on Saturday would carry more weight at home than a Grand Slam title.

Li Na, one of Zheng’s role models, was the first Chinese player to win a major in singles at the 2011 French Open and followed up with another at the 2014 Australian Open before retiring later that year.

“Li Na makes me think big,” Zheng told me when she was still a teenager.

But Li could not finish better than fourth at the Olympics. This is new territory, and Zheng is guaranteed to be the first Olympic singles medalist, woman or man, from China.

She has done it the hard way: leaving her home in Shiyan at age 8 to train in Wuhan, Li’s home city.

“That was a difficult time for me, because I was not with my parents,” she once told me. “They came to visit me like once a week or two weeks one time.”

She was identified early as a special talent, signing with IMG, a management agency, at age 11 and moved to Beijing to train with coach Carlos Rodriguez, who had worked with Justine Henin and Li. Zheng later  moved to Barcelona, where she works with coach Pere Riba and has developed an affinity for clay.

But she has had to do it the hard way in Paris, as well.

She needed more than three hours in the third round to defeat American Emma Navarro, who served for the match in the second set. Zheng then had to rally from 1-4 down in the third set on Wednesday against former No. 1 Angelique Kerber before prevailing in three hours and four minutes.

Those marathon matches were even more draining because of the hot and humid conditions in Paris, but Zheng has persevered: applying clay-flecked, ice towels to her neck on the changeovers and applying relentless pressure with the ball in play.

Even Swiatek, one of the best frontrunners in the game, could not hold a two-break, 4-0 lead in the second set.

“From 4-0, I think the key is you just play every single point,” Zheng said. “I remember before when I am at this stage, I let it go. I say, ‘Okay, I lose this set and let’s fight for the third.’ But today, no. I didn’t have this mentality. I said, ‘I’m just going to fight every single point. Let’s see what is going to happen. I’m going to play smart, wait for my chance.’ Little by little, I start to get back into the match.”

Zheng, at 5-foot-10, is a power player to be sure who can punch with the best in the women’s game from the baseline and who has a potent serve. But she has learned how to capitalize on the openings that her power creates by pushing forward. She also has added variety with the help of Riba, a Spaniard who helped coach Coco Gauff to victory at last year’s U.S. Open before rejoining forces with Zheng in 2024.

Against Kerber and Swiatek, Zheng made judicious use of the drop shot. She deployed it successfully on Thursday even when the match was in the balance: forcing errors off the slide from the speedy Pole.     

Zheng’s last changeup came when she faced a break point when serving for the match at 6-5. She hit a big first serve that Swiatek blocked into play. As Swiatek hustled toward the center of the baseline, Zheng calmly changed her grip and the pace, slicing a forehand drop shot that wrong-footed Swiatek and sent her scrambling forward.

Swiatek missed the desperation shot and then at deuce, got a midcourt backhand with plenty of time to prepare and, in a microcosm of this semi-final, guided the shot long rather than ripping through it with her customary elasticity and conviction.

It was that sort of day for Swiatek in this familiar place where she has steamrolled so many opponents. And on match point, Zheng coolly smacked a wide, flat first serve on the line that Swiatek returned long.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ITF Tennis (@itftennis)

Zheng was already on her back and exulting when Swiatek questioned the call on the other side of the net. But chair umpire Miriam Bley soon confirmed it as they examined the mark, and Zheng, back coated in red clay, was able to truly celebrate her first victory over Swiatek, which was also Zheng’s first victory against a world No. 1.

Zheng faced Swiatek for the first time in this same stadium, winning the first set in a tiebreaker in their fourth-round match at Roland Garros before Swiatek hit the accelerator pedal and lost just two games the rest of the way. But Swiatek certainly took note of her great potential, and Zheng has since confirmed it.

“She won four Slams here, but I am always looking to play the best players and trying to beat them,” Zheng said. “Then I can show I am able to be one of them. I don’t like in my journey to face nobody. I like to face number one, number two. I wish I could beat all of them, and I’m really happy I can finally make it.”

She has long had such ambitions. In our first interview in her teens, she told me, “I like to play on the big stages.”

On Saturday, she will be back on one of the biggest with a gold medal at stake.

“Of course I make history already,” she said. “But I don’t want to stop there.”