Qinwen Zheng and Emma Navarro don’t see eye to eye in terms of how they compete and their locker room sociability skills…
After losing to her today at the Olympics 76 67 16, Navarro supposedly told Zheng she doesn’t approve of her approach to competing: “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.”
Qinwen offered another side of the story: “She told me she doesn’t know how I have a lot of fans. It looks like she’s not happy with my behavior towards her. If she’s not happy about my behavior, she can come and tell me. 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.”
gated How players interact with each other before matches can be more colorful and controversial than the actual match. Marcelo Rios kicked a tennis ball that missed Andre Agassi’s ear by an inch in the locker room before their 1998 Key Biscayne final. Andy Roddick stared down Federer, who was standing behind him, whole looking into a mirror, before their US Open showdown. Rafael Nadal was known for doing wind sprints before his matches – inside the locker room. I’m sure there’s been other incidents.
Navarro could be sour graping after a tough loss because Zheng is not obligated to have to chat with anyone in the locker room or be friendly to her rivals. Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios were well known for rarely talking with any other players. But no ATP player ever complained about it.
China · Emma Navarro · Olympic Games · Qinwen Zheng · USA
Scoop Malinowski · July 30, 2024 at 9:06 pm
Another locker room reality is that certain higher ranked players don’t bother to say hi or talk with lower ranked players. I have heard several examples of this but won’t name names. Not all do it but some are snobs against lower ranked guys.
Steve · July 31, 2024 at 11:13 am
No locker room stories here but a clash of tennis-prose’ favorites took place: Tomic vs. Kozlov
https://youtu.be/1ZzVoylw0XE?si=kkrGFes81b1cP9RT
Scoop Malinowski · July 31, 2024 at 12:21 pm
Battle of the racquet wizards, a lot of finesse and touch in this duel, Kozlov saved four BPs at 3-3 and somehow won that game for 43 and then Tomic crumbled after that but regained his strength for the start of the third and regain the edge. Great match to watch.
Scoop Malinowski · July 31, 2024 at 12:23 pm
Zheng wins again today vs Kerber. Jimmy Arias today assessed Qinwen’s game. He said he’s watched her practice many times and she’s one of the hardest-working and fittest players and best ball strikers. But Arias said she needs to play more games/sets/tiebreakers in practice to learn to problem solve better especially in tight sets.
Sam · July 31, 2024 at 3:43 pm
Another locker room reality is that certain higher ranked players don’t bother to say hi or talk with lower ranked players.
Scoop, I assume Djokovic ain’t one of them? 😏
Scoop Malinowski · July 31, 2024 at 4:20 pm
Sam, absolutely not, as my book reveals, Djokovic is always friendly and helpful to the younger lower ranked players, also in recent months we’ve read so many other examples from the likes of Etcheverry, Mensik, Opelka, etc. I have never heard of ANY player ever say Djokovic was aloof or unapproachable which is not uncommon for certain elite ATP WTA players.
Sam · July 31, 2024 at 7:37 pm
Good to hear, Scoop. 🤗
Scoop Malinowski · August 1, 2024 at 12:57 pm
Badosa and Qinwen also have best relations with Djokovic.
Sam · August 1, 2024 at 5:06 pm
That’s good. By the way, can you name any other top players that are friendly with the lower-ranked players?
Scoop Malinowski · August 1, 2024 at 9:40 pm
Sam, I can name a few – Medvedev, as he is close friends with Bogdan Bobrov and even helps support him. deMinaur engages with all the Aussies.
Sam · August 1, 2024 at 9:49 pm
Glad to hear about Medvedev, but it’s hard for me to warm up to de Minaur after the way he ridiculed Novak’s brave stand against mandatory vaccination.
Scoop Malinowski · August 2, 2024 at 6:53 am
Sam, yes that was disturbing what deminaur did but it was an isolated incident, he’s not a prick. no other bad incidents. he gets a pass.