Olympics | History made, legacies secured and farewells bidden at Olympic tennis

PARIS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Paris tennis competition, which concluded here on Sunday, will be one that lives long in the memory. For China, Paris will go down in the history of not only the nation's tennis legacy but that of Asia, after Zheng Qinwen claimed gold in the women's singles and the pair of Zhang Zhizhen and Wang Xinyu finished with silver in mixed doubles.

Zheng's history-making gold represents the first time an Asian-born player has won an Olympic singles title. Her achievement is something that even the legendary two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na was not able to accomplish in her playing career. At just 21 years old, her gold also could signify a career that might surpass that of Li Na.

Her tournament did not go according to plan from the start after she withdrew from the doubles competition. During the tournament, Zheng had to overcome hostile opposition as well as the Queen of Clay and No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek.

Wang Xinyu, 22, and Zhang Zhizhen, 27, also represent a bright future for Chinese tennis after their achievements. Despite falling in the final to Czech players Tomas Machac and perhaps the greatest female doubles player of all time, Katerina Siniakova, the silver medal showed that the progress of Chinese tennis has been remarkable during this decade.

In the men's singles, Novak Djokovic completed his collection of major trophies. His gold medal at Paris was the most obvious absentee from a trophy collection that includes a record 24 Grand Slams and a record 72 Big Titles. The Serb overcame pre-tournament injury concerns to defeat the young pretender and reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, who had defeated him in the Wimbledon final a few months ago. Djokovic showed that he still remains on top of the men's game, and the gold medal only solidifies his legacy.

In the men's doubles, Australia's Matthew Ebden and John Peers added to their country's already bumper medal haul, while in the women's competition, Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini brought home gold to go with the bronze that Lorenzo Musetti won in the men's singles.

The Games also saw fans say goodbye to some iconic figures in the sport. Two-time gold medalist and three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray retired from the sport after he fell in the men's doubles alongside Dan Evans in the quarterfinals, while Rio silver medalist and three-time Slam winner Angelique Kerber also bowed out from the sport following her loss to Zheng Qinwen.