Chinese number one Zheng Qinwen upset world number one seed and queen of clay Iga Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 to book her place in the gold medal match of the women's singles while superstars Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are heading for a collision in men's singles at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Both women arrived at Court Philippe-Chatrier after coming through tough three-set matches the day before. Swiatek, a four-time French Open winner, entered the match with a perfect 6-0 record against China's number one.

Despite Zheng's three-hour battle in the previous day, it was Swiatek who started slower. The number one seed was made to work to hold her service in the opening game before Zheng broke at the second time of asking.

Before the changeover, both women broke each other with ease, reflecting shades of Zheng's attritional win against Kerber, where both women broke each other numerous times throughout the match. In the following game, Zheng broke again before holding her serve to take her fourth-ever set against Swiatek in her career.

Starting the second set, Swiatek found herself down against Zheng, who fought back hard, breaking the Polish player twice consecutively to take a decisive 4-0 lead in the set. But Zheng, seeing the set slipping away, battled back, breaking Swiatek twice herself to win four games on the trot.

After a goliath battle over deuce in which Zheng held her serve, the match entered the most crucial period late in the set, with both women fighting hard to swing the match in their favor.

It was Zheng who made the first major step towards victory, breaking Swiatek in the 11th game. Serving for a place in the final, Swiatek was determined not to go away easily, taking the final game to deuce before Zheng held her nerve to book her place in the final.

China was also guaranteed a medal in the mixed doubles after Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen defeated the Dutch pair of Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof in the semifinals 2-6, 6-4, 10-4.

In the first set, the Chinese duo struggled to find their rhythm, getting broken twice after the Dutch hit a number of convincing winners. Despite the slow start, Zhang and Wang grew into the game and began to put pressure on Schuurs and Koolhof.

By the third set tiebreak, the momentum of the match had shifted, and after taking the lead, China could not be caught. The result means that China will be guaranteed its first-ever mixed doubles medal when they compete in the gold medal match on Friday.

Zheng will compete for gold against Donna Vekic, who defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4, 6-0.

In men's singles, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain put himself into the semifinals with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win against American ninth seed Tommy Paul. Yet to drop a set so far in the singles tournament, Alcaraz's form continued in the opening set, after the Spaniard displayed some of his characteristic drop shots, moving Paul around the court at will. After breaking in the sixth game of the first set, Alcaraz cruised to take the first set.

It was not all smooth sailing for Alcaraz. Broken in the second game, he fought hard to get back the dropped game, but the American showed determination to resist the Spaniard's advances, saving three break points on his serve in the next game before almost breaking Alcaraz again. However, the American's resistance crumbled in game nine as Alcaraz finally broke Paul, sending them towards a tiebreak. The breathtaking tiebreak saw both men have opportunities to win the set before Alcaraz finally got his win.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz remains on a collision course with Serbian star Novak Djokovic, who battled injury to defeat Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Djokovic took the first set easily, displaying cutting-edge ruthlessness. However, the Greek came back as Djokovic's recurring knee injury flared up. Requiring two rounds of treatment, a concerned Djokovic fought through to victory.

Elsewhere, Andy Murray ended his professional career alongside Dan Evans with a straight sets defeat to Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the men's doubles. Murray, who withdrew from the singles tournament, leaves the sport with an Olympic gold and three Grand Slams.

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