Tears of joy at last for Iga Swiatek as she returns to claim bronze at Roland Garros

A day after enduring one of the most difficult losses of her career, a straight sets defeat by Zheng Qinwen on the clay courts she has dominated for three years, Iga Swiatek had to navigate a completely unfamiliar situation. In most tennis tournaments, a loss marks the end of the road, but here at Roland Garros an Olympic medal was still on the line. Swiatek, the winner of four French Open titles, had to shake off her sorrows and ensure that she took the opportunity before her.

The world No 1 handled the tricky circumstances exceptionally well, recovering to dismantle Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1 and win her first Olympic medal, a bronze.

Not every great tennis champion has proved adept at accepting defeat and finding the motivation to win bronze. At London 2012 and Tokyo 2020, Novak Djokovic’s Olympic runs ended with successive losses in the semi-final and then bronze medal matches.

While Swiatek started off tentatively, spraying errors and falling down an early break to Schmiedlova, her game quickly kicked into gear. From 2-1 down in the opening set, Swiatek conceded just one further game as she picked apart Schmiedlova’s serve and smothered the ­Slovak with her relentless, sustained aggression. It was a clean, professional performance against an inferior opponent.

As Swiatek clinched the final point, her initial celebration was an understated shake of her racket. But as she sat back down in her seat, tears flowed again. It may not have been the medal she returned to Paris for, but it is a meaningful achievement that she will surely look back on with pride.

The summer of Carlos Alcaraz continued as he demolished Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1 to reach the men’s gold medal match and guarantee himself at least a silver in his first Olympics. Alcaraz, the second seed and still only 21, is the youngest men’s medallist since tennis was reintegrated into the Olympics in 1988.

Just over two months ago, Alcaraz arrived at Roland Garros in the middle of a difficult year. A forearm injury had forced him to miss most of the clay-court swing and his general inconsistency and impulsiveness on court meant he had won just one title in nearly 10 months. Since then, the Spaniard has enjoyed an astounding run, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon before reaching the gold-medal match. Against Auger-Aliassime, Alcaraz was completely ruthless. He outplayed the Canadian in almost every aspect, completely outhitting the 23-year-old from the baseline, peppering him with drop shots and closing down the net at will.

With no ranking points on offer in Paris, Alcaraz will remain No 3 in the world regardless of results. But there is no doubt he is currently the best player in the world, enjoying the most brilliant period of his young career. He will play for an Olympic gold medal against either Djokovic, the top seed, or Lorenzo Musetti in a rematch of their Wimbledon semi-final last month, which Djokovic won.