3 shocking tennis results from Day 3 of Paris Olympics 2024 ft. Elina Svitolina crushing Jessica Pegula's hopes
Day 3 of the 2024 Paris Olympics saw enthralling tennis contests, featuring some of the biggest names. Top seeds Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic played their second-round singles matches on Monday, July 29.
Apart from the aforementioned stars, former gold medalist Rafael Nadal and young sensations Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff were also in action on Day 3 of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Most of the seeds and higher-ranked players emerged victorious in their second-round contests on July 29. However, there were a few results that raised eyebrows.
Let's take a look at the three most shocking results from Day 3 of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
#3 Bianca Andreescu
Bianca Andreescu made a perfect start to her maiden Olympic campaign in Paris with a straight-set win over Clara Tauson of Denmark. The Canadian star faced Donna Vekic of Croatia in the second round on July 29, and the two women engaged in a contest of who would hold her nerves better.
Andreescu was the first to earn a break, but the 2019 US Open champion could not hold on to her advantage as Vekic broke back thrice to take the first set. The second set was also filled with many breaks of serves, with Vekic edging out Andreescu and eventually securing a 6-3, 6-4 win.
The defeat marks another disappointing end to the Canadian's campaign, who is yet to win a title since her breakout season in 2019.
#2 Beatriz Haddad Maia
Brazilian No. 1 Beatriz Haddad Maia was expected to make a deep run at the Paris Olympics, given her form on the clay court. The former Roland Garros semifinalist made a nervy start to her singles campaign in the French capital, needing three sets to beat home favorite Varvara Gracheva in their opener.
The No. 14 seed faced World No. 67 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the second round. Like the Andreescu-Vekic match, this contest was also full of breaks, with both women combining for a total of 12 breaks of serves. Schmiedlova was the better performer of the two and ousted Haddad Maia 6-4, 6-4 in nearly two hours, ending a promising campaign for the most successful Brazilian woman in tennis history.
#1 Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula became the highest-ranked casualty at the 2024 Paris Olympics after her crushing loss to Elina Svitolina in the second round. Seeding fifth in the women's singles draw, Pegula swept aside Viktorija Golubic in the opening round to set up a contest against defending bronze medalist Svitolina.
The American took the first set from the Ukrainian No. 1 but the latter valiantly fought in the second set to level the scores. In the deciding set, Svitolina built on her progress, breaking Pegula twice, once in the beginning and once at the end, to register a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory.
The loss ended Jessica Pegula's quest for a singles medal in her second Olympic campaign. She is still active in the women's doubles in Paris alongside Coco Gauff.