Navarro expresses gratitude to Danielle Collins after Olympic Games: 'She's taught me to be myself”

Emma Navarro expressed her gratitude to Danielle Collins after competing together in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Both players were singles representatives for Team USA.

Collins is about to end her career after announcing her retirement at the end of the season. The American No. 3 has arguably had the best season of her career, breaking into the top 10 and winning her first WTA 1000 title at the Miami Open. However, both Navarro and Collins left Paris without medals.

Navarro competed this week in the Canadian Open with an outstanding performance, reaching the semifinals of a WTA 1000 for the first time in her career. She fell to her compatriot Amanda Anisimova on Sunday, narrowly missing the chance to play in the final.

In the midst of her participation in Toronto, Emma Navarro shared some words about her compatriot and Olympic teammate, Danielle Collins: "Danielle is very outgoing and expressive on the court, and she is unapologetically herself, which I think is really cool,” Navarro said.

“Off the court, she's just been super supportive. We got to play together at the Olympics and cheer each other on, so that's been really cool. We have very different personalities on the court, but I think she's taught me a little bit about just being myself, and not everyone is going to like the way you approach things, but don't let that affect you," said Navarro.

The Olympic performances of Collins and Navarro were marked by controversy. Navarro was eliminated in the round of 16 by eventual gold medalist Zheng Qinwen and didn’t hesitate to criticize the 21-year-old Chinese player: "I just told Qinwen I didn't respect her as a competitor,” Navarro said in the post-match press conference. “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 added.

On the other hand, Collins was ousted in the quarterfinals by world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and also made headlines for her statements. The American had a tense exchange with her opponent after the match: "I told Iga that I see things happen in front of the cameras and other things when we are in the locker room. Everyone can be what they want but without falsehood."

Navarro will return to the court this week at the Cincinnati Open, debuting against teenager Mirra Andreeva, with whom she has no previous encounters. Collins decided to skip the WTA 1000 tournaments in the hardcourt swing and will return to competition next week in Monterrey, which will be her only preparation tournament for the US Open.