Emma Navarro did not mince her words when discussing Olympics opponent Zheng Qinwen.
The US tennis star was beaten by the world number seven in the third round of the tournament which is held at Roland Garros, Paris – home of the French Open.
Zheng saved a match point to defeat Navarro 6-7 (7), 7-6 (4), 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympics.
However, the three-hour contest was overshadowed by scathing remarks from Navarro, who described her opponent as “cut-throat” and that she didn’t “respect her” after an exchange of words at the net.
“I just told her I didn’t respect her as a competitor,” Navarro said, referencing the heated exchange.
“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, so congrats to her.”
“She told me she doesn’t know how I have a lot of fans,” Zheng, who was cheered on by raucous Chinese fans inside a packed-out Court Seven, said.
“It looks like she’s not happy with my behaviour towards her. If she’s not happy about my behaviour, she can come and tell me. I would like to correct it to become a better player and a better person.”
The 21-year-old who made the 2024 Australian Open Final added: “I’m glad that she told me that. I will not consider it an attack because she lost the match.”
Zheng will face former world number one and three-time major winner Angelique Kerber for a place in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
News Summary:
- Ruthless Emma Navarro blasts ‘cut-throat’ Zheng Qinwen after heated net exchange following Olympics defeat
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