Emma Navarro out of Olympics after epic 3 hour loss
PARIS (WCSC) – Emma Navarro’s run in the Olympics came to an end on Tuesday morning but not without a major fight.
The Lowcountry native was eliminated in the 3rd round of the women’s tennis tournament by China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 in a match that took more than 3 hours to complete.
Navarro, who was the 11th seed in the tournament, was one of 3 Americans eliminated in 24 hours including 2nd seeded Coco Gauff and 5th seed Jessica Pegula.
The Ashley Hall alum was down a break in the 1st set but would come back to force a tiebreaker before fighting off 4 set points to win the set.
In the 2nd set, Navarro would take the lead going up 5-3 with match point but it would be Qinwen’s turn to fight back forcing a tiebreaker of her own and winning the 2nd set.
Qinwen, the 6th seed in the tournament, took control early in the final set and never looked back breaking Navarro’s first 2 serves and cruising to a 6-1 win.
Navarro will now shift her focus to the final major of the season, the U.S. Open which starts in late August. Navarro has reached at least the 3rd round of every major so far in 2024.
