Iga Swiatek secures spot in Olympic semifinals, survives ailing Danielle Collins in Paris

Iga Swiatek surged into the medal rounds at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, outlasting an ailing Danielle Collins, reaching the semifinals when Collins retired due to an abdominal muscle injury, trailing 6-1, 2-6, 4-1.

The world No. 1 must make the final to guarantee her place on the podium, but vastly improved her chances of leaving the Games with a medal despite a second-set hiccup against her eighth-seeded American rival, who won a strong second set but faded in the third as Swiatek advanced in two hours and four minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Swiatek returned to Paris just over a month after winning her fourth Roland Garros and the chance to play twice on the terre battue in the same season made her the overwhelming favorite to capture a maiden gold medal in her second Olympic appearance. Competing in her first tournament since a surprising third-round Wimbledon exit to Yulia Putintseva ended her 21-match winning streak, the top seed eased into the quarterfinals without losing a set, sweeping aside the likes of Irina-Camelia Begu, Diane Parry, and Wang Xiyu with the loss of just 16 games.

Across the net was Collins, who is making her Olympic debut in what is set to be her final season on tour. It was after a heartbreaking Australian Open defeat to Swiatek that Collins revealed she would indeed retire at the end of the year, and in the wake of that shock revelation the American has been one of the most in-form players on tour. Winning back-to-back titles at the Miami Open and Credit One Charleston Open, she reached her first clay-court WTA 1000 semifinal at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and made it into Wimbledon’s second week for the first time.

Seeded eighth in Paris, Collins has battled through her first three matches, navigating three-set victories against both former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Colombia’s Camila Osorio to book her third meeting with Swiatek of 2024. Though she trailed 1-6 in their head-to-head (her lone win coming in the semifinals of the 2022 Australian Open), two of their last four have gone three sets, including their aforementioned Melbourne match in January when Collins led by 4-1 double-break advantage in the opening set.

Swiatek lost only three games to Collins in their most recent meeting at the BNP Paribas Open and looked poised to earn a similarly quick victory on Wednesday when she rolled through the opening set, breaking twice to put herself six games from the medal rounds.

Collins responded with aplomb, taking a 3-0 lead of her own in the second set and leveling the match in a dramatic eighth game.

Swiatek appeared out of sorts early in the decider when she misjudged a volley and ended up struck by Collins’ passing shot, but the Pole rebounded in her inimitable fashion and turned the tables on her rival, breaking and holding to open up a 2-0 advantage.

Distracted, frustrated, and feeling physically hindered, Collins fell behind a double-break and called a medical timeout. Though she got on the board on her return to court, Collins had a look of concern in discussing the issue with the trainer during the subsequent change of ends.

Three points into the sixth game, Collins determined she could no longer play on, sending Swiatek into the semis where she'll face No. 6 seed Zheng Qinwen, who sent former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber into retirement earlier in the day.