US Open star doubles down on angry row after telling rival 'I don't respect you'

US Open star doubles down on angry row after telling rival ‘I don’t respect you’

Posted by Admin September 3, 2024 Tennis

Emma Navarro has doubled down on her scathing criticism of Qinwen Zheng after reaching the semi-final of the US Open.

The American could face the world No. 7 in the next round. They met at the Olympics just a few weeks ago, where Navarro told Zheng she didn’t “respect” her.

Ahead of another potential showdown, the 13th seed backed up her comments and explained why she had beef with the Olympic champion.

Navarro beat Paula Badosa 6-2 7-5 to advance to the semis on Tuesday and awaits the winner of the match between second seed Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng. If the seventh seed makes it through, there will be no love lost when they step onto the court.

The American was a game away from beating her when they met in the third round of the Olympics but the 21-year-old stormed back to win 6-7(7) 7-6(4) 6-1. Navarro had a lot to say as they shook hands at the net while her opponent shrugged and looked taken aback.

Afterwards, Navarro confessed: “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.”

And the world No. 12 has no regrets about her blunt comments, as she claimed she would have said the same thing if she won, branding Zheng disrespectful. Asked to explain her comments in Paris, Navarro replied: “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 I’ve played her, because we have been playing each other since we were juniors, 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.”

Navarro is known for her calm, almost stoic demeanour on the court so her beef with Zheng caught many off guard. But the 23-year-old wasn’t surprised by her reaction. “No, I haven’t spoken to her since. And, no, I didn’t surprise myself. I felt that way the whole match,” she said.

“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.”

At the time, Zheng took the criticism on the chin. “She told me she doesn’t know how I have a lot of fans. 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,” she said.

“I would like to correct it to become a better player and a better person. I’m glad that she told me that. I will not consider it an attack because she lost the match.”