"I told her I didn't respect her" - Emma Navarro lashes out at 'cut-throat' Zheng Qinwen after heated Paris Olympics 3R battle

Emma Navarro lashed out at Zheng Qinwen following their third-round match at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Both Zheng and Navarro made their Olympic Games debut this year.

Zheng overcame 11th seed Navarro 6-7(7), 7-6(4), 6-1 in three hours and 12 minutes in the third round to secure her spot in the quarterfinals. This victory also made her only the second Chinese woman to reach the last eight in the singles event at the Olympics since Li Na accomplished the feat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Following their intense battle, Navarro had strong words to share about Zheng. Navarro expressed that she told Zheng after the match that she didn't respect her as a competitor. She described the Chinese player as a very "cut-throat" and tough competitor to face.

"I just told her [Zheng Qinwen] 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," Navarro said [via Yahoo Sport].

Despite this, Navarro congratulated Zheng on her win and acknowledged that she had played better.

"But, kudos to her, she played some good tennis there at the end. She played better than me, so congrats to her," she added.

In response, Zheng Qinwen stated that if Navarro was unhappy with her behavior, she could have addressed the issue with her so that she could learn and improve.

"She [Emma Navarro] 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," Zheng said.

Navarro was seeded 11th in the tournament and kicked off her campaign by defeating Austrian Julia Grabher 6-2, 6-0 in the first round. She then overcame Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 in the second round before facing the World No. 7 Zheng in the third round.

Meanwhile, Zheng is seeded sixth in the tournament and began her Olympic Games campaign by defeating Italy's Sara Errani 6-0, 6-0. She then triumphed over Dutch player Arantxa Rus 6-2, 6-4 in the second round.

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Zheng Qinwen: "I am very friendly but when I compete, I can't really make friends"

Zheng Qinwen [Image Source: Getty Images]

While talking to WTA Insider at the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen stated that it's tough to make friends when competing with each other in the sport.

Zheng said that she is "very friendly" but when she competes, it makes her feel like she can't really make friends with her opponents.

"I always say it's tough to make friends when you're always competing with each other in the sport. I am very friendly. But when I compete, it makes me feel like I can't really make friends. But if I don't have to compete against another athlete, I really want to share the story and hear how they grow and see this point of view," Zheng said.

Zheng Qinwen will next face former World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals of the Games, who has announced that the 2024 Paris Olympics will be the final event of her career.