"Didn't necessarily treat me or the sport with respect": Emma Navarro explains issue with Qinwen Zheng ahead of potential US Open showdown

Qinwen Zheng could be the opponent of Emma Navarro in the semi-finals of the 2024 US Open. A showdown which has. some inner needle between the pair after the Olympic Games.

Navarro saw off Paula Badosa earlier on Tuesday evening to book her spot. But usually a calm and level headed player, she gained some criticism and also shock from certain sections of the tennis community for her words about the eventual gold medalist.

"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," she said at the time in Paris.

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

As expected, she was quizzed about it after her win over Badosa. She did not change her stance though about feeling disrespected.

“Yeah. 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 l've played her, because we have been playing each other since we were juniors," said Navarro. "I felt just a little bit disrespected by her. You know, I don't want to, like I said, go too into detail with it. But yeah, I think she didn't necessarily treat me or the sport with respect. That's why I said what I said after the match. But, yeah, that's it.”

Whilst also saying that while it was out of character, it is how she felt at the time and still does and was merely speaking as a matter of fact.

“No, I haven't spoken to her since. And, no, I didn't surprise myself. I felt that way the whole match. Even if I had won, I probably would have said the same thing. You know, it wasn't a sort of, in-the-moment emotional thing, it was just kind of how I felt. I think it got a lot more attention than I thought it was going to. Yeah, I think, you know, maybe it's just one person's opinion. Yeah, it wasn't an emotional outburst. It was just kind of matter of factually how I felt.”