Novak Djokovic celebrates Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic's "amazing success" as they gear up for gold medal battle in Paris Olympics 2024 final
Novak Djokovic recently celebrated Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic reaching the gold-medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This edition of the Games marks Zheng's debut at the Olympics, while Vekic is making her second appearance at the quadrennial event.
Zheng Qinwen is seeded sixth in the tournament and started her Olympic Games campaign by defeating Sara Errani 6-0, 6-0 in the first round. She then went on to triumph over Dutch player Arantxa Rus 6-2, 6-4, and 11th seed Emma Navarro 6-7(7), 7-6(4), 6-1 in the second and third rounds, respectively.
The Chinese then triumphed over former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(6) in the quarterfinals and most recently shocked top seed Iga Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals to secure her spot in the final.
After her victory over Swiatek, the World No. 7 took to social media to share a series of pictures from her semifinal win.
"Believing ❤️ See you in the finals!" Zheng Qinwen captioned her Instagram post.
Meanwhile, Donna Vekic, seeded 13th in the tournament, began her Olympic Games campaign with impressive victories over Italy's Lucia Bronzetti (6-2, 7-5) and Bianca Andreescu (6-3, 6-4) in the first and second rounds, respectively. She then defeated second seed Coco Gauff (7-6(7), 6-2) in the third round and 12th seed Marta Kostyuk (6-4, 2-6, 7-6(8)) in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the World No. 21 outplayed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (6-4, 6-0) to secure her spot in the gold medal match. After her victory in the final, the Croat took to social media to share a photo with a caption, that her country, Croatia has a medal, alluding to her guaranteed medal regardless of the final outcome. She will claim gold if she wins the final or silver if she does not.
"WE HAVE A MEDAL!!!!! 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ @hrvatski_olimpijski_odbor @olympics," Donna Vekic captioned her Instagram post.
Novak Djokovic, who himself recently advanced to the semifinals in the men's singles event at the 2024 Paris Olympics by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, took to social media to share the aforementioned posts of Donna Vekic and Zheng Qinwen and applauded them for securing their spots in the final match.
"Donaaaaaaa 🙌 👏 💪 🤩," the Serb captioned his Instagram story.
"Amazing success Qinwen 👏 🙌 ," he added.
Donna Vekic and Zheng Qinwen have faced each other twice on the WTA tour
![Donna Vekic (L) & Qinwen Zheng (R) [Image Source: Getty Images]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/a3b20-17225880346889-1920.jpg)
Donna Vekic and Zheng Qinwen have faced each other twice on the WTA tour. Their upcoming encounter in the final of the 2024 Paris Olympics will be their third meeting in their career.
Their first matchup took place in the opening round of the 2021 Courmayeur Ladies Open, where Vekic emerged victorious with a score of 7-6(1), 6-2. The Croat continued her winning streak and eventually claimed the championship title by defeating Clara Tauson in the final, without dropping a single set throughout the tournament
Donna Vekic and Zheng Qinwen's second meeting was at Round 1 of the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy. This time Zheng turned the tables and defeated Vekic with a score of 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4. The World No. 7 eventually advanced to the final but finished as the runner-up after being defeated by Beatriz Haddad Maia.