American tennis star Emma Navarro did not maintain again when discussing Zheng Qinwen following the duo’s third-round matchup on Tuesday on the Summer time Olympics in Paris.
Qinwen — the seventh-ranked ladies’s participant on the earth — defeated Navarro 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals in singles play.
“I simply informed her I did not respect her as a competitor,” Navarro mentioned of the pair’s post-match interplay, in accordance with a report by Yahoo Sports activities. “I believe she goes about issues in a fairly cutthroat manner. It makes for a locker room that does not have a number of camaraderie, so it is powerful to face an opponent like that, who I actually do not respect.”
The 21-year-old Chinese language standout made the Australian Open closing in January, earlier than falling to Aryna Sabalenka. Navarro has had a breakout 2024 season, making the third spherical down underneath, the fourth spherical on the French Open and the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July.
The American — ranked fifteenth within the WTA — added “kudos” to Qinwen and mentioned that her opponent “performed some good tennis there on the finish” and “performed higher than me, so congrats to her.”
In keeping with the report, Qinwen praised Navarro as a “nice opponent” and addressed the criticism as properly.
“She informed me she would not know the way I’ve a number of followers,” she mentioned. “It seems like she’s not pleased with my conduct in the direction of her. If she’s not blissful about my conduct, she will be able to come and inform me. I wish to appropriate it to change into a greater participant and a greater particular person.”
Qinwen added that she was “glad (Navarro) informed (her) that.”
“I cannot think about it an assault as a result of she misplaced the match,” she mentioned.
