Nina Kennedy selfie with Jessica Fox after pole vault gold

Swiatek’s left with ‘broken heart’

Iga Swiatek dabbed at her eyes with a white towel while sitting on her sideline chair at the 2024 Olympics after a lclean-as-can-be win Friday that earned a bronze for Poland’s first tennis medal at any Summer Games.

She beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1 in 59 minutes, but make no mistake: These were not purely tears of joy.

They were, at least in part, remnants of the disappointment — devastation, really — the No. 1-ranked Swiatek felt after a poor performance a day prior cost her a shot at what she really wanted, what she kind of figured she would head home with gold.

“After the match, I was pretty confused, because I still feel like I lost yesterday, and that was kind of a huge loss,” Swiatek said. “On the other hand, I won today … so I should be proud of that. There’s like a lot of mixed emotions and still is.”

Swiatek played much more cleanly than she did Thursday in a straight-set semi-final loss to Zheng Qinwen. That result ended Swiatek’s 25-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros, which includes three championships in a row at the French Open.

Swiatek called the semi-final exit “one of the toughest losses I probably ever had in my career” and said she wept for six hours afterwards.

“It was like,” she said, “Somebody really broke my heart.”