Paris Olympics: missing shoes and costly flights led China tennis pair to gold medal shot

The mixed doubles pairing with a shot at winning a historic tennis gold medal for China at the Paris Olympics was only formed at the last minute, and even that was a rushed affair.

Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen clinched their spot in Friday’s final with victory over Dutch duo Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof, and could now win their country’s first gold in the event.

But if things had gone to plan, neither would have been in the French capital to take part in the opening round, let alone the final against Siniakova Katerina and Machac Thomas of the Czech Republic.

Thrown together because Zheng Qinwen decided to withdraw to focus on her women’s singles, Wang said she did not even have a pair of shoes for their first game, while both she and Zhang said they had been looking for flights home after seeing how badly the heat was taking its toll on players.

“I was looking at flight tickets in the afternoon and almost booked it,” Wang said. “Because it’s a bit expensive, I wanted to wait and check again.”