Angelique Kerber's tennis career came to an end in the Paris Olympics quarter-finals after Zheng Qinwen pulled off an impressive comeback win on Wednesday.
The former world number one fought hard, but in the end, could not hold off the sixth seed, who won 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (8-6) at Roland-Garros.
The pair traded breaks in the first set, needing a tie-break to separate them before Kerber edged in front. And while the German matched her opponent for much of the second, Zheng won the final three games to force a decider.
It would take another tie-break to decide the winner after a battling third set, and though Kerber rallied after three consecutive match points, she lost her serve on the penultimate point, and Zheng took full advantage.
Zheng will face either world number one Iga Swiatek or Danielle Collins for the right to play for a medal.
Data Debrief: Kerber says goodbye
Kerber announced before the tournament that this was to be her last, and she pushed to the very end in what turned out to be her final game.
The 36-year-old won three grand slams in her career and has already made history in Paris by reaching the most women's singles quarter-finals at the Olympics (three) since 1988, equalling Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
She is also one of only 15 players to stay 30+ weeks at the world number 1 spot since the WTA Rankings were first published in 1975 (34 weeks in total at #1).
Gauff endures doubles disappointment at Paris Olympics
Coco Gauff suffered back-to-back defeats in her respective doubles matches as her hopes of an Olympic gold medal were dashed at Roland-Garros.
In her first game of the day, Gauff teamed up with world number six Jessica Pegula to face Czech Republic duo Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova.
After taking the first set, Gauff and Pegula were unable to continue their momentum, falling to a 6-2 4-6 5-10 defeat.
The American pairing started strongly and raced into an early lead, taking the opening set in what seemingly looked like a straightforward victory for Team USA.
However, Muchova and Noskova rallied and in a second set that saw five break points converted by both, the Czech's would prevail to take the game to a decider.
Gauff and Pegula lost four straight games to put their opponents in the ascendency, with Muchova and Noskova able to see out the win to progress to the quarter-finals.
Gauff emerged back onto the clay courts in the French capital for her mixed-doubles match soon after, joining Taylor Fritz to face a Canadian pairing of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski.
The American duo would come from a set down to take the game to a decider, but it would be their opponents who emerge 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 8-10 victors.
Gauff and Fritz exchanged blows with the Canadians, but were edged out in a first set tie-break after losing four games on the spin.
But not wanting to let their dreams of a medal die, the American pair would recover from losing an early break point to rally and earn one of their own in the eighth game, seeing out the win to take Gauff to her second third-set decider of the day.
However, the same result would transpire, with Auger-Aliassime and Dabrowski edging a nail-biting conclusion to book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Nadal and Alcaraz stunned by Krajicek and Ram at Paris Olympics
Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram stunned gold medal favourites Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics.
In what could be Nadal's final appearance at Roland-Garros, the American duo showed no mercy, prevailing in straight sets 6-2 6-4 to advance to the next round.
After beating Roman Safiullin to reach the quarter-finals of the singles earlier that day, Alcaraz started slowly as the Spanish pair found themselves immediately behind.
Nadal and Alcaraz would close the gap to 3-2, but their American opponents would continue their dominance, taking the next three games to see out the first set.
The Spaniards started much better in the second, with the pairs trading blows and each holding their own serve.
But the decisive break would come in the seventh game, with Krajicek and Ram going to within two games of producing an unlikely upset against the pre-tournament favourites.
The Spaniards then missed two break points to take the game to 5-5, with the Americans missing two match points of their own in a thrilling final set.
But it was Krajicek and Ram who would emerge victorious, dumping out Nadal in what may be his last dance on the court.
They will face Czech Republic duo Adam Pavlsek and Thomas Machac for a place in the final on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Nadalcaraz no match for American duo
The fairytale ending for Nadal has come to an end, but it took an impressive display from Krajicek and Ram to do so.
The Americans won 25 of their 57 return points compared to Nadal and Alcaraz's 19, and converted all three of their break points.
Spain stay perfect in Olympics Group C, Marta leaves field in tears
Marta left the field in tears after being sent off for a dangerous high tackle during Brazil's 2-0 defeat to Spain in their final Group C game at the Olympics.
The Brazil great narrowly missed Olga Carmona's head with an out-of-control attempt to reach the ball in first-half stoppage time, receiving a straight red card in what could turn out to be her final-ever Olympic game.
Brazil needed a win to secure a place in the knockout rounds, but now they face a nervous wait to see if they will be one of the two best third-place teams in the last eight – a match they would have to play without their captain.
Athenea del Castillo eventually got the breakthrough after 68 minutes, before Alexia Putellas scored in the 107th minute to ensure they stayed perfect to top the group.
It was a dominant performance by La Roja, who created an expected goals tally of 2.75 from 27 shots compared to Brazil's 0.3 from 10 efforts.
Spain will face the best third-place team from either Group A or B in the quarter-final on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Japan also secured a spot in the knockout rounds with an emphatic 3-1 victory over Nigeria.
Japan stunned Brazil in the second group game and continued their momentum by getting the job done in the first half.
Maika Hamano and Mina Tanaka put them 2-0 up before Jennifer Echegini pulled one back for Nigeria.
However, Hikaru Kitagawa's strike just before the break restored Japan's two-goal cushion and held onto that lead to set up a meeting with the winners of Group B in the next round.
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