Program history was made Thursday for Virginia women’s tennis, as Emma Navarro and Danielle Collins became the first two Cavaliers to be selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympic Tennis Event.
Navarro, the more recent Virginia graduate, was a Cavalier for two seasons in 2021 and 2022. She won the NCAA singles title in 2021 as a freshman and was a four-time ITA All-American. Navarro was nearly undefeated in collegiate singles play, with a 51-3 record and a 33-17 record in doubles. All of these impressive feats made it an easy decision for Navarro to go pro after her sophomore season was over.
Since then, Navarro has made a name for herself in the Women’s Tennis Association, making the semifinals of the WTA 500 event in San Diego, Calif. and winning the LTA 100K in Charleston, S.C. during her 2023 season. So far in 2024, she has won her first WTA title at the Hobart International and made it to the Round of 16 at the Miami Open, moving her up to be ranked No. 17 globally.
Collins, on the other hand, has had more time between her collegiate career at Virginia and her current position as a professional player in the WTA. She played three seasons for the Cavaliers from 2014 to 2016, and won two NCAA singles titles.
After graduating, Collins went to play professionally and continued to dominate — currently sitting at No. 11 in the world. She won her first WTA 125 title in 2018, and since then she has won four WTA singles titles, advanced to the semifinals in the Australian Open in 2019, made the doubles semifinals at Wimbledon in 2022 and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the world.
Both Collins and Navarro have represented the U.S. before at the Billie Jean King Cup in 2019 and 2024, respectively, but neither of them have played at the Olympic level before. They will be surrounded by other world-renowned athletes that will also be representing the U.S., such as No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 5 Jessica Pegula and doubles No. 11 Desirae Krawczyk. The doubles team has not yet been announced, but it will be comprised of two of the five individuals that will be playing in the singles event.
With the amount of victories and achievements under their belts, it will not be surprising if both Collins and Navarro make it far in the Olympic Tennis Event. Fans should be sure to cheer on these Cavaliers, and keep an eye out for their stellar performances, when watching the Paris Olympic Games later this summer.
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