Emma Navarro drops brutal truth about what she said to Zheng Qinwen

The match was a long one for any event. In a bit over three hours, China's Zheng Qinwen defeated American Emma Navarro 6-7(9) 7-6(4) 6-1 at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Navarro just seemed to run out of proverbial gas at the end, but we also learned she had a growing rage toward Qinwen by the time the match ended.

There had been no known animosity between the players prior to the match. Though, what we don't see as tennis fans might have just as much bearing on how players approach each other as what we do see. We could see that Qinwen was the better of the two players by the end of the third-round match. We couldn't see Qinwen playing in a "cut-throat" manner.

That phrase is important because that is what Navarro accused Qinwen of in her post-match press conference. The American also let reporters know what was said at the net when the players met each other at the end of the match. Navarro did not hold back.

Emma Navarro has strong words about Zheng Qinwen after Olympics loss

Navarro said, "I just told her 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. But, kudos to her, she played some good tennis there at the end. She played better than me, so congrats to her."

One has to believe that the last bit of that was Navarro speaking with tongue firmly in cheek. She didn't like her opponent personally and lost. Those can many times be the worst kinds of matches to lose.

Qinwen, to be fair, responded to Navarro's comments and handled the situation with a great degree of poise. She said, "If she is not happy with my behavior, she can come and tell me. I would like to correct it to become a better player and a better person. I am happy that she told me. I will not consider it an attack because she lost the match. She told me that she doesn’t know how I have so many fans."

Ouch. Qinwen's words might have cut Navarro even more deeply than the loss did. The part about not seeing what Navarro said as an attack because the American lost is pouring salt into the wound of losing. The Chinese player is not wrong, however. Whatever "cut-throat" things she did on the court led to a victory so maybe Navarro could learn a few things from the loss.

Still, both players are well-liked by fans so let's hope the spat ends soon. Tennis matches are dramatic enough without having a personal strong dislike get involved as well.

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