Angelique Kerber's tennis career came to an end in the Paris Olympics quarter-finals after Zheng Qinwen pulled off an impressive comeback win on Wednesday. (Full Olympics Coverage | More Sports News)
The former world number one fought hard, but in the end, could not hold off the sixth seed, who won 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) at Roland-Garros.
The pair traded breaks in the first set, needing a tie-break to separate them before Kerber edged in front. And while the German matched her opponent for much of the second, Zheng won the final three games to force a decider.
It would take another tie-break to decide the winner after a battling third set, and though Kerber rallied after three consecutive match points, she lost her serve on the penultimate point, and Zheng took full advantage.
Zheng will face either world number one Iga Swiatek or Danielle Collins for the right to play for a medal.
Data Debrief: Kerber says goodbye
Kerber announced before the tournament that this was to be her last, and she pushed to the very end in what turned out to be her final game.
The 36-year-old won three grand slams in her career and has already made history in Paris by reaching the most women's singles quarter-finals at the Olympics (three) since 1988, equalling Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
She is also one of only 15 players to stay 30+ weeks at the world number 1 spot since the WTA Rankings were first published in 1975 (34 weeks in total at #1).
