Emma Navarro shared her thoughts against Zheng Qinwen ahead of a possible US Open semifinal match by repeating her claims that the Chinese player disrespects her.
During their heated altercation at the Olympics, the American player called Zheng a cunning person.
Zheng won the gold medal in the Paris Games by defeating Navarro, and if the Chinese player wins her quarterfinal match against Aryna Sabalenka later on Tuesday, they will square off once more in New York.
After exchanging some words online, Navarro made it obvious that she wasn’t impressed by Zheng and hit her rival at the press conference. Navarro said: “I just told her I didn’t respect her as a competitor. I think she goes about things in a pretty cutthroat 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.”
The subject came up after Navarro defeated Paula Badosa in the US Open quarterfinals since she was scheduled to play the winner of the Aryna Sabalenka-Zheng match.
Navarro was questioned recently and she responded: “I don’t want to go super into the weeds with it, but I think during that match and, you know, on the practice court and the last few times I’ve played her because we have been playing each other since we were juniors, I felt just a little bit disrespected by her. And, you know, I don’t want to go too into detail with it, but I think she didn’t necessarily treat me or the sport with respect, and that’s why I had; that’s why I said what I said after the match.”
Navarro at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2024
Currently ranked no.12 (career-high), Navarro owns an overall 52-20 win-loss record in 2024. Navarro is now competing at the U.S. Open where she conquered the world no.81 Anna Blinkova 6-1 6-1, the world no.93 Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-1, the world no.19 Marta Kostyuk 6-4 4-6 6-3, the world no.3 Cori Gauff 6-3 4-6 6-3 and the world no.29 Paula Badosa 6-2 7-5.
The American clinched 1 title in 2024 in Hobart. The American was the finalist in the Paris.
Qinwen Zheng in 2024
Ranked world no.7 (career-high), the Chinese played her last match on the 3rd of September when she lost to world no.2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-1 6-2 in the quarter of the U.S. Open (draw).
This season Qinwen has achieved a composed 37-14 match record. The Chinese clinched 2 titles in 2024 in Palermo and Paris. Qinwen reached the final at the Australian Open.
Qinwen Zheng will come up against the world no.219 Alice Tubello in the quarter. They have never played each other so far in top events.
Qinwen clinched 2 titles in 2024 in Palermo and Paris. The Chinese was the finalist at the Australian Open.
The Chinese won 4 titles in her career: 1 on hard courts and 3 on clay courts. (See the list of her titles)
Emma Navarro and Qinwen Zheng clashed against each other just twice. Their current record is 2-0 for Zheng. Before, the last time they competed against each other, Qinwen Zheng won 6-7(7) 7-6(4) 6-1 in the 3rd round in Paris (Olympics) on the 30th of July 2024.
Emma Navarro and Qinwen Zheng |
| Embed from Getty Images |
