How Emma Navarro & Zheng Qinwen became the centre of the most unexpected tennis controversy at Paris Olympics 2024
Emma Navarro and Zheng Qinwen played out a thriller in the third round of the Paris Olympics 2024. The Chinese star saved a match point before mounting a memorable comeback to win the match 6-7 (7), 7-6 (4), 6-1 knocking out the American in the process. The end of the match saw a cold handshake between the two and a few words were exchanged at the net.
Both the players spoke about the incident during their respective post-match conferences. Navarro took a shot at Qinwen's attitude but the Chinese star took it on the chin and shared a different view about the whole issue.
Navarro started a fiery press conference by claiming that she did not respect Qinwen as a competitor. The American added that there are differences between the duo stemming from the locker room and she finds it hard to play against her. However, Navarro did say that Qinwen played better than her and deserved the win.
"I just told her I didn't respect her as a competitor. I think she goes about things in a pretty cut-throat way. It makes for a locker room that doesn't have a lot of camaraderie, so it's tough to face an opponent like that, who I really don't respect. But, kudos to her, she played some good tennis there at the end. She played better than me," Navarro said.
Qinwen in her press interaction said she thought the American appeared unhappy about the Chinese player's behavior towards her.
She added that she wasn't taking Navarro's words as "an attack" on her:
"She told me she doesn't know how I have a lot of fans. It looks like she's not happy with my behavior towards her. If she's not happy about my behavior, she can come and tell me. I would like to correct it to become a better player and a better person. I'm glad that she told me that. I will not consider it an attack because she lost the match," Qinwen replied.
This war of words has turned into a most unexpected controversy at the Olympic Games 2024. Navarro and Qinwen have had no public disagreements in the past but have suddenly taken the headlines with their post-match interaction during the Olympics.
Zheng Qinwen reaches the quarterfinal of the Olympics 2024 and could face Iga Swiatek in the semi-final
Zheng Qinwen has reached the quarterfinals of her maiden Olympics campaign with an impressive win against Emma Navarro. The Chinese star started her year with a bang. She reached the final of the Australian Open and has since continued her good form.
Qinwen is set to face Angelique Kerber at the tournament's quarterfinal stage, with a potential semifinal to come against the World No. 1 Iga Swiatek. The 21-year-old has looked solid on the Roland Garros clay and would aim to bring home a gold medal for her country.
Meanwhile, a loss against Qinwen has meant that Navarro has joined her American counterpart Coco Gauff in a third-round exit from the Olympics. Danielle Collins is the only American left in the women's single's competition.