Virginia athletes have been making waves at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the women’s tennis duo of Class of 2016 alumna Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro are no exception. Collins and Navarro, holding the No. 8 seed and No. 11 seed in the 64-player singles tournament, both represented the United States this summer in their first Olympic appearances. Each had their moments, but Navarro was eliminated in the Round of 16, and Collins was sent home in the quarterfinals. Collins also competed in the women’s doubles tournament, where she and U.S. teammate Desirae Krawczyk were defeated in the second round.
The singles matches were originally planned to start Saturday, but poor weather moved them to Sunday. Collins’ match was first, as she faced Laura Siegemund of Germany. She confidently won the first set 6-3 and advanced to the second round in the following set after Siegemund retired due to injury. Even after just a few days competing, Collins was amazed by the energy surrounding the Olympics, and she noted how different it felt in comparison to other international competitions.
“It’s one of the coolest atmospheres that I’ve played in,” Collins said. “One of the things that’s so special about the Olympics is like, you’re walking around here and people aren’t necessarily here for a specific player, but they’re here for the country. I think that’s so special … It’s one of the most special things you get to experience as an athlete is being able to have so many people here supporting you. It gives me chills when I get to play in that type of atmosphere. It’s so cool.”
Navarro also made a successful Olympic debut, cruising to a win in straight sets over Julia Grabher of Austria. After a surprise trip to the Wimbledon quarterfinals last month, which featured a historic upset win over fellow American and No. 2 ranked Coco Gauff, Navarro was starting to build momentum as a contender.
Collins and Navarro returned to the courts Monday for the Round of 32, where Collins faced former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Collins and Wozniacki battled in a three-set match, but Collins had enough in the tank and won 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3 to advance to the Round of 16.
Navarro later took on Bulgarian player Viktoriya Tomova but struggled out of the gates as she dropped the first set in a tiebreaker. She did not back down easily, though, recovering with a 6-4 win in the second set and a dominant 6-1 victory in the final set to book a spot in the next round.
Collins took the court before Navarro once again in the Round of 16, facing Colombian player Camila Osorio. She shut out Osorio in the first set with a 6-0 sweep but dropped the ensuing set 6-4 to bring about yet another deciding third set. After some tough back-and-forth, Collins managed to break away again and win the third set 6-3 to move on to the quarterfinals.
Navarro encountered her toughest match yet, engaging in a battle with No. 6 seed Qinwen Zheng of China. Each of the first two sets went to a tiebreaker, with Navarro taking the first set 9-7 and Zheng evening the match with a 7-4 win in the second one. With exhaustion setting in, Zheng found a second wave of energy and defeated Navarro 6-1 in the third set to take the match victory.
“Really tough to not get the win today,” Navarro said after the match. “It’s tough for myself, but it’s also tough for my team, the American team. I just played with so much pride, so it’s tough to not be able to get the win. But I left it all out there and that’s all I can do.”
Navarro did not exit the tournament without controversy, however. She and Zheng shared a heated exchange at the net after the match, where Navarro says she told Zheng that she did not respect her as a competitor.
“I think she just goes about things in a pretty cutthroat way,” Navarro said. “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.”
Only Navarro and Zheng — who won the gold medal Saturday morning — know what went on in the locker room, but all in all, Navarro remains grateful for her time at the Olympics.
“I’ve been pinching myself all week,” she said. “It’s been such a surreal experience getting to play for the U.S. and getting to play alongside so many amazing players that I respect so much.”
With Navarro ousted, it was up to Collins to bring Virginia its first Olympic medal in tennis. She faced an uphill battle in that regard, as she stared down a matchup with No. 1 seed Iga Świątek of Poland in the quarterfinals. It looked like Świątek might cruise to a straight sets win after taking the opening set 6-1, but Collins did not let the slow start phase her — she responded with a 6-2 win in the second set.
Unfortunately, the last set ended prematurely, as Collins retired after five games due to an injured stomach muscle. Collins said the injury was caused by cramping and dehydration, which she attributed to the lack of cold water available during her match Tuesday, when the temperatures reached 97 degrees Fahrenheit.
Like Navarro, Collins also engaged in an animated conversation with her opponent after the match. When asked about it in her press conference, Collins explained that she did not appreciate Swiatek’s response to her injury.
“I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about my injury,” Collins said. “I don’t really feel like anybody needs to be insincere. They can be the way that they are. I can accept that, and I don’t need the fakeness.”
While Collins is set to retire at the conclusion of the 2024 season, Navarro is still just 23 years old and only a few years into her professional career. This means she should have at least a couple more opportunities in the Olympics, keeping up the Cavalier presence on the world stage.
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