Iga Swiatek dabbed at her eyes with a white towel while sitting on her sideline chair at the 2024 Olympics after a lickety-split, clean-as-can-be win Friday that earned a bronze for Poland`s first tennis medal at any Summer Games. Sure, she beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1 in 59 minutes on Friday, 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. She`s a perfectionist, for one thing, and someone who, frankly, rarely loses anywhere, least of all on the red clay at Roland Garros, the site of her four French Open titles and home to Olympic tennis this year. "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.