It may not be a Grand Slam tournament, but that doesn’t mean the intensity isn’t carrying over into Olympic tennis competition.
American Emma Navarro didn’t hold back in ripping her opponent after losing to China’s Qinwen Zheng in the third round of women’s singles play from Roland Garros on Tuesday.
Following the conclusion of the three-hour match — which saw Zheng win 6-7, 7-6 and 6-1 — the pair reportedly had an intense confrontation at the net, which boiled over into postgame media comments.
“I just told her I didn’t respect her as a competitor,” the 23-year-old Navarro said. “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.”
The bitter remarks didn’t seem to faze Zheng, who holds the world’s No. 7 ranking.
“She told me she doesn’t know how I have a lot of fans,” Zheng, 21, 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.”
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Zheng also shaded Navarro, alluding to her inferiority.
“I’m glad that she told me that. I will not consider it an attack because she lost the match,” Zheng said.
Following the contentious marathon battle between the top-15 players, Zheng will take on Germany’s Angelique Kerber on Wednesday in the women’s singles quarterfinal.
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Beyond this budding rivalry, the courts from Paris delivered additional headlines on Tuesday after American star Coco Gauff was upset by Croatia’s Donna Vekic, accusing the umpire of ‘cheating’ her at one stage.
The top remaining women’s competitors vying for gold include Kerber, Iga Swiatek, Zheng and Danielle Collins.
