Paris Olympics 2024: Emma Navarro vs. Zheng Qinwen preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (11) Emma Navarro vs. (6) Zheng Qinwen
Date: July 20, 2024
Tournament: Paris Olympics 2024
Round: Third Round (Round of 16)
Venue: Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France
Category: Olympics
Surface: Clay
Live Telecast: USA - NBC, Peacock | UK - Eurosport, Discovery+, BBC iPlayer | Canada - CBC Gem, Radio Canada, Tou.tv | India - JioCinema, Sports18
Emma Navarro vs. Zheng Qinwen preview
The third round of the Paris Olympics will feature an interesting match-up when 11th seed Emma Navarro will take on sixth seed Zheng Quinwen. Navarro is having a fine season in 2024, with a record of 40-16 reflecting her good performances. Navarro won a title at the Hobart International. Her other notable performance of the season was reaching the quarter-final of Wimbledon.
Navarro has had a decent clay-court season. She has a 7-5 record on the red dirt this year. On the WTA 125 level, Navarro reached the final of the Trophee Clarins on the clay but lost to Diana Shnaider. On the main tour, her best clay-court performance came at the French Open, where she reached the fourth round, losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
Navarro had an easy over Julia Grabher of Austria in the first round of the Paris Olympics. However, in the second round, Navarro had to fight back from being a set down against Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.
Zheng Qinwen made headlines at the beginning of the year as she made her first Grand Salm final at the Australian Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. Zheng's other notable performances have come on clay where she reached the quarter-final of the Italian Open, losing to Coco Gauff. However, her one title of the year came at the Palermo Ladies Open, where she defeated Karolina Muchova for the title.
Zheng has been in fine form at the Olympics. She hammered former Roland Garros finalist Sara Errani 6-0, 6-0 in the first round. The World No. 6 secured another easy 6-2, 6-4 win over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands in the second round.
Emma Navarro vs. Zheng Qinwen head-to-head
Zheng Qinwen has won her only encounter against Emma Navarro. The Chinese player defeated the American in the quarter-final of the Palermo Ladies Open last year.
Emma Navarro vs. Zheng Qinwen odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Emma Navarro vs Zheng Qinwen prediction
In her match against Viktoriya Tomova, Navarro had a 70% first-serve delivery. The American player was able to win 63 percent of the points on her second serve as well. In the return games, she made short work of the opponent's second serve, as she won 61% of her points on the second serve of her opponent.
Zheng could only make 49% of her first serves against Arantxa Rus. However, the Chinese player won 74% of her points when the first serve was in. She mostly played from the baseline, as she came to the net only three times in the match. Zheng also made 22 unforced errors in two sets which was a lot compared to her 16 winners.
Zheng needs to improve her first serve percentage as Navarro is quite capable of returning the second serve of her opponent. That small battle will decide the result. However given her rankings and form, Zheng has the upper hand in this match.
Pick- The sixth seed to win in three sets.