Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal when she held off Croatia's Donna Vekic for a 6-2 6-3 win in a tense final on Saturday.

The 21-year-old sixth seed was given raucous support by a sizeable Chinese contingent inside Roland Garros's Court Philippe Chatrier and responded with a composed performance.

Vekic, herself bidding to become Croatia's first Olympic singles champion, battled hard to try to turn around the match but failed to capitalise on her opportunities.

Zheng was not at her sparkling best but raised her game when required to land the biggest prize of her career.

Serving for the match at 5-3, Zheng reached match points as Vekic drove a backhand wide and finished it off with a well-placed forehand winner before falling to her back with joy.

China's only other gold medal in Olympic tennis came in 2004 when Li Ting and Sun Tian-Tian won the women's doubles in Athens while the best previous singles performance was Li Na's run to the semi-finals in 2008, although she missed out on a medal.

Zheng, runner-up at the Australian Open this year, now looks capable of scaling the same heights as Li Na who claimed two Grand Slam titles during her illustrious career.

"Nothing can describe my feelings right now," Zheng told Eurosport on court before the medals ceremony.

"It's unreal, I was hoping to get a medal for China and I made it, I got the gold. I did everything I could."

Her victory completed a memorable week for China on the Parisian clay after Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen claimed the silver medal in the mixed doubles the previous evening.

Zheng, who men's finalist Novak Djokovic describes as his favourite female player, began the week in devastating fashion, beating former French Open runner-up Sara Errani 6-6 6-0.

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She had to dig deep in long three-set epics against Emma Navarro and Germany's Angelique Kerber before stunning hot favourite Iga Swiatek to give herself a shot at gold.

The vastly-experienced Vekic presented a formidable obstacle in the final but Zheng started quickly to lead 3-0 and managed to stay in control by coming through some edgy games.

"I fought every single match, I feel like I had special energy and lots of support. My country will be proud and my family who I know will be screaming at home by the TV," she said.

Poland's Swiatek finished with the bronze medal after beating Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 on Friday.

Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.

Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal when she held off Croatia's Donna Vekic for a 6-2 6-3 win in a tense final on Saturday.

Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal when she held off Croatia's Donna Vekic for a 6-2 6-3 win in a tense final on Saturday. The 21-year-old sixth seed was given raucous support by a sizeable Chinese contingent inside Roland Garros's Court Philippe Chatrier and responded with a composed performance. Vekic, herself bidding to become Croatia's first Olympic singles champion, battled hard to try to turn around the match but failed to capitalise on her opportunities. Zheng was not at her sparkling best but raised her game when required to land the biggest prize of her career. Serving for the match at 5-3, Zheng reached match points as Vekic drove a backhand wide and finished it off with a well-placed forehand winner before falling to her back with joy. China's only other gold medal in Olympic tennis came in 2004 when Li Ting and Sun Tian-Tian won the women's doubles in Athens while the best previous singles performance was Li Na's run to the semi-finals in 2008, although she missed out on a medal. Zheng, runner-up at the Australian Open this year, now looks capable of scaling the same heights as Li Na who claimed two Grand Slam titles during her illustrious career. "Nothing can describe my feelings right now," Zheng told Eurosport on court before the medals ceremony. "It's unreal, I was hoping to get a medal for China and I made it, I got the gold. I did everything I could." Her victory completed a memorable week for China on the Parisian clay after Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen claimed the silver medal in the mixed doubles the previous evening. Zheng, who men's finalist Novak Djokovic describes as his favourite female player, began the week in devastating fashion, beating former French Open runner-up Sara Errani 6-6 6-0. ALSO READ | Olympics 2024: India shooter Manu Bhaker reveals THIS IS WHY she lost on third medal at Paris Games She had to dig deep in long three-set epics against Emma Navarro and Germany's Angelique Kerber before stunning hot favourite Iga Swiatek to give herself a shot at gold. The vastly-experienced Vekic presented a formidable obstacle in the final but Zheng started quickly to lead 3-0 and managed to stay in control by coming through some edgy games. "I fought every single match, I feel like I had special energy and lots of support. My country will be proud and my family who I know will be screaming at home by the TV," she said. Poland's Swiatek finished with the bronze medal after beating Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2 6-1 on Friday. Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.

Paris Olympics 2024: Zheng Qinwen makes history with women's singles gold for China

Australia&#39;s number one tennis player Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of Rio Olympics, blaming his country&#39;s Olympic committee for an&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;unfair and unjust treatment&quot;.

The world number 19 joined Bernard Tomic in withdrawing his name from consideration today, a month after Australia&#39;s chef de mission Kitty Chiller said the pair were among a number of athletes whose behaviour was being monitored.

Tomic, ranked 22nd in the world, ruled himself out in mid-May because of his busy playing schedule, but Kyrgios laid the blame squarely on the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).

&quot;It is with a heavy heart that I have had to make a decision not to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro,&quot; Kyrgios said.

&quot;Representing Australia at the Olympic Games has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Unfortunately, while I have expressed every intention of trying to win a medal for my country in Rio, it&#39;s very clear to me that the Australian Olympic Committee has other plans.&quot;

Kyrgios said the AOC&#39;s treatment of him over the past month had been &quot;unfair and unjust&quot; and they had made it &quot;crystal clear&quot; their opposition to his being part of the team.

Tennis Australia will nominate the players to take part in the August&nbsp;5-21 Games on June 30,&nbsp;but they must then be ratified by Chiller and the AOC.

&quot;The AOC has chosen to publicly and privately disparage me,&quot; he said.

&quot;The AOC&#39;s unwarranted attacks on me demonstrate the organisation&#39;s inability to understand the circumstances surrounding highly competitive sports.&quot;

Kyrgios said he did not want the row with the AOC to distract the Australian team from their preparations for Rio and hoped to represent his country in future.

The 21-year-old has become a divisive figure in Australia, particularly after a string of unsavoury incidents over the past 12 months.

He was given a suspended ban by the Association of Tennis Professionals&nbsp;&nbsp;(ATP) last year for an off-colour comment directed at Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss tennis player,&nbsp;and was booed by the crowd at the Australian Open after a running battle with an umpire.

Tennis Australia chief Steve Healy offered Kyrgios his full support today and echoed the player&#39;s disappointment that &quot;he has been put in this position&quot;.

&quot;Nick&#39;s performances this year have improved,&quot; Healy said.

&quot;Nick is a passionate competitor and he&rsquo;s working hard to learn and mature in a highly pressurised environment where he is under constant public scrutiny.&quot;

Chiller has made good behaviour one of her main priorities for Rio after Australia&#39;s disappointing 2012 Olympics was accompanied by a crisis of team culture in the swimming squad, which, a&nbsp;report said had led to &quot;toxicity&quot; in the environment.

&quot;At this point, Nick Kyrgios, or any other tennis athlete, has not been nominated for selection on the Australian Olympic Team,&quot; Chiller said.

&quot;In regard to selection every athlete in contention is treated equally and fairly. We have no further comment on this issue.&quot;

The world number 19, Nick Kyrgios, withdrew his name today, a month after Australia's chef de mission Kitty Chiller said his behaviour was being monitored

Australia's number one tennis player Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of Rio Olympics, blaming his country's Olympic committee for an "unfair and unjust treatment". The world number 19 joined Bernard Tomic in withdrawing his name from consideration today, a month after Australia's chef de mission Kitty Chiller said the pair were among a number of athletes whose behaviour was being monitored. Tomic, ranked 22nd in the world, ruled himself out in mid-May because of his busy playing schedule, but Kyrgios laid the blame squarely on the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC). "It is with a heavy heart that I have had to make a decision not to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro," Kyrgios said. "Representing Australia at the Olympic Games has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Unfortunately, while I have expressed every intention of trying to win a medal for my country in Rio, it's very clear to me that the Australian Olympic Committee has other plans." Kyrgios said the AOC's treatment of him over the past month had been "unfair and unjust" and they had made it "crystal clear" their opposition to his being part of the team. Tennis Australia will nominate the players to take part in the August 5-21 Games on June 30, but they must then be ratified by Chiller and the AOC. "The AOC has chosen to publicly and privately disparage me," he said. "The AOC's unwarranted attacks on me demonstrate the organisation's inability to understand the circumstances surrounding highly competitive sports." Kyrgios said he did not want the row with the AOC to distract the Australian team from their preparations for Rio and hoped to represent his country in future. The 21-year-old has become a divisive figure in Australia, particularly after a string of unsavoury incidents over the past 12 months. He was given a suspended ban by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) last year for an off-colour comment directed at Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss tennis player, and was booed by the crowd at the Australian Open after a running battle with an umpire. Tennis Australia chief Steve Healy offered Kyrgios his full support today and echoed the player's disappointment that "he has been put in this position". "Nick's performances this year have improved," Healy said. "Nick is a passionate competitor and he’s working hard to learn and mature in a highly pressurised environment where he is under constant public scrutiny." Chiller has made good behaviour one of her main priorities for Rio after Australia's disappointing 2012 Olympics was accompanied by a crisis of team culture in the swimming squad, which, a report said had led to "toxicity" in the environment. "At this point, Nick Kyrgios, or any other tennis athlete, has not been nominated for selection on the Australian Olympic Team," Chiller said. "In regard to selection every athlete in contention is treated equally and fairly. We have no further comment on this issue."

Kyrgios pulls out of Rio Games, blasts Australian Olympic Committee

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Paris Olympics 2024: Zheng Qinwen makes history with women's singles gold for China

Kyrgios pulls out of Rio Games, blasts Australian Olympic Committee