Iga Swiatek admitted she "just messed up" during her semi-final defeat to Qinwen Zheng at the Paris Olympics that ended her quest for a gold medal. (More Tennis News)
Swiatek, who has won four of the last five French Open titles at Roland-Garros, was reduced to tears in her post-match interview following the loss.
It ended the Pole's 1149-day unbeaten record on the clay courts in the French capital, having won 25 consecutive matches, along with a 47-4 completed sets record and claiming 10 sets by a score of 6-0 over that span.
The world number one was the pre-tournament favourite to win gold in Paris, having been knocked out at the quarter-final stage in Tokyo three years ago.
But a nightmare first set ended 6-2 in favour of Zheng, and when the Chinese broke Swiatek to draw level in the second after racing into a 4-0 lead, there seemed to be only one outcome.
“I just had a hole in my backhand. It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid strike,” Swiatek told Kuwik.
“I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that.
“I know that’s not the justification but I tried to correct that during the match. Today it didn’t work at all. So she used that to win the game.”
When asked why she slumped from 4-0 to 4-4 and ultimately 5-7 in the second set, Swiatek added: “It's the result of the match. So I just messed up.”
Swiatek still has the opportunity to take home a bronze medal when she faces the loser of the second semi-final between Croatian Donna Vekic and Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia.
