Emma Navarro's entry into a WTA 125 tournament in Hong Kong sparked criticism from fans who disagreed with the world No. 8’s decision to play in a lower-level tournament.
The Hong Kong Open already featured several interesting players for a tournament of its kind, including rising stars like Alycia Parks and Linda Fruhvirtova, as well as experienced players like Martina Trevisan, Alja Tomljanovic, and Sara Sorribes Tormo, who have fallen in the rankings but are looking to recover positions in a lower-category event.
Until a few days ago, the most attractive name in the draw was undoubtedly former world No. 1 Simona Halep, who is making her return this week after more than four months since her last appearance, also at a WTA 125 in Paris, where she withdrew due to injury.
However, it came as a surprise when the organizers revealed that world No. 8 Emma Navarro would be part of the tournament, as the only player ranked in the top-50. The American entered the China Open as the 6th seed but was upset in her debut by local player Shuai Zhang (4-6, 2-6).
Navarro is currently fighting to secure a spot in the WTA Finals, and the WTA 1000 Beijing was a great opportunity to move closer to qualification, as it’s one of the last major tournaments before the season ends. With 3,568 points in the WTA Race, Navarro is momentarily the last player qualified for Riyadh. However, Danielle Collins (not competing this week) and Zheng Qinwen, who is in the Round of 32 in China, are close behind her.
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Perhaps in response to the urgency of securing points to guarantee her spot in the Finals, Navarro decided to register for the WTA 125 Hong Kong tournament, which starts Monday and runs simultaneously with the Beijing Open: "Hey, guys. Emma Navarro here. Just wanted you to know I am gonna be playing at the 125 here in Hong Kong next week. Really excited to be here and hopefully gonna see this city a little bit and play some great tennis, so looking forward to seeing you guys there," she said on her Instagram stories.
The announcement did not sit well with fans on social media, who criticized Navarro for taking a spot from a lower-ranked player who struggles more to enter higher-profile tournaments. The American is the only top-50 player in a draw where only 10 of the 32 players are in the top-100.
"HOW IS A TOP 10 PLAYER ALLOWED TO PLAY A
125???? Top 10 players can't even play 250s, yet this girl somehow found a way
to scam a spot even with rules in place… she needs to be stopped,"
commented one user on X, sparking responses from other fans. "Taking a
spot from those who need it more," responded another user.
Here you can find other reactions from users on social media:
Taking a spot from those who need it more.
HOW IS TOP 10 PLAYER ALLOWED TO PLAY 125???? Top 10 players can’t even play 250s yet this girl somehow found a way to scam a spot even with rules in place… she needs to be stopped
Looks like she was pretty pissed off with her performance this week and wants some more match time to improve her level in advance of the next event. I get the point that she may be depriving another player of a spot but the event will be happy to have her.
emma navarro is so greedy its not even funny
Looked at the HK 125 draw to see who Halep was playing to see…Emma Navarro as the top seed. How is a top 10 player allowed to play a 125 event and can she not cope with a week off?
More like it's a marketing strategy for the tournament. I'm not a fan of Navarro but most of the hate she gets is because she is rich. Of course, people will deny that. Remember, nobody kicks a dead dog. 😎
And this is why I hate M1000/WTA of 2 weeks. Killed lot of 250 and they invented this ridiculous 125k for players who lost earlier. Lol. Just get back M1000 of 1 week and let the players play 250 next week. Ridiculous decision by ATP and WTA.
Wtf seriously this navarro literally did sf in the US open he is top 10 and he is going to play a 125 tournament???? The WTA needs to do something @WTA
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