PARIS– Former Virginia women’s tennis players Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro competed for Team USA in the tennis competition of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris, France.
Danielle Collins was the No. 8 seed in the singles draw and the No. 4 seed in doubles. Emma Navarro was the No. 11 seed in the singles draw. Both will made their Olympic debuts in the tournament.
Collins was the last American woman standing in the singles draw, advancing to the quarterfinals before falling against No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Collins and doubles partner Desirae Krawczyk, an Arizona State alum, advanced to the second round in doubles.
Navarro won two matches to advance to the Round of 16 in singles before falling to the eventual gold medalist Qinwen Zheng of China in three sets.
Navarro and Collins were the first two Virginia women’s tennis players to compete in the Olympics.
Day-by-day recaps of the tournament are below.
Wednesday, July 31
Danielle Collins retired in the third set of her quarterfinal match against No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Swiatek took the first set 6-1, but Collins came back with a 6-2 win in the second to force a decider. Swiatek was leading 4-1 in the third when Collins retired.
Collins is scheduled to compete in the Round of 16 of Doubles later Wednesday afternoon. Her status for that competition has not been announced.
Tuesday, July 30
Danielle Collins booked her ticket to the quarterfinals with a three-set victory against Camila Osorio of Colombia. Collins came out firing, taking the first set 6-0, but was broken late in the second set to fall 6-4. She took the decider 6-3 to advance.
Collins will face World No. 1 and top-seeded Iga Swiatek on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. They will be the third match on Suzanne Lenglen Court.
Collins is the last American woman remaining in the singles draw.
Collins and Desirae Krawczyk played their delayed first round doubles match, topping Despina Papamichail and Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the second round. They will play the fifth match on Suzanne Lenglen Court.
Emma Navarro’s run came to an end with a three-set loss against 6-seed Qinwen Zheng. 11th-seeded Navarro saved four set points in the first set, eventually taking the tiebreaker 9-7 to go up one set to love. Zheng countered in the second set with Navarro twice serving for the match at 5-4 and 6-5, but Zheng broke back both times to force a tiebreaker that she won 7-4. Zheng took the third set 6-1 in a marathon that lasted 3:10, the longest match so far at Paris 2024.
Emma Navarro Quotes- July 30
“Really tough to not get the win today. 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.”
On her Olympics experience:
“I’ve been pinching myself all week. 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. It’s really tough that it has to come to an end now, but I’ll be cheering them on all the way.”
Monday, July 29
Navarro faced No. 49 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria on Monday in the Round of 32. The two went to a tiebreaker to decide the first set, which Tomova took 7-1, but Navarro stormed back, taking the final two sets 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the Round of 16.
She will face 6-seed Qinwen Zheng on Tuesday at 6 a.m. on Court 7 in the third round.
Collins picked up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win against former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
Collins will face Camila Osorio of Colombia on Tuesday at 6 a.m. on Court 14.
DANIELLE COLLINS QUOTES (7/29)
On the atmosphere of an Olympic Games
“It’s one of the coolest atmospheres that I’ve played in. I’ve played a lot of Billie Jean King Cup matches. I’ve never played in the Olympics [before], and then 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 was really cool seeing the fan base, you know, that Caro has created over the course of her career, and so many Danish people here to support her, but also so many Americans, too, in the crowd that I’m sure traveled a long, long way to get here. So that really meant a lot. Thinking about COVID, in 2020 and 2021 when we didn’t have a lot of fans, that was a really challenging time for a lot of people, for the fans, for us as athletes. 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.”
On the experience of playing the Olympics in her farewell year
“I’ve experienced a lot, experienced most things on the tennis tour, and then today I experienced a new type of environment, which was really, really cool. I’m just so glad that I ended up becoming an Olympian and getting to have this experience, because there’s so many things that I’ve learned from this tournament, so many new traditions here at the Olympics that make it so, so special. I got the Denmark pin, by the way. We’ve been trading the pins back and forth. That’s been really cool. I guess I didn’t really know what to expect going in. It wasn’t that I thought that it was going to be just like any other tournament. I knew that the Olympics is incredibly special, but the different traditions that you don’t get to have at the other tournaments, I think, too, has opened up my mind and it’s been like, ‘Wow! That’s been so cool. Just meeting and connecting with athletes from all around the world that you wouldn’t get to meet otherwise, so that’s been really cool.”
Sunday, July 28
Both Collins and Navarro were scheduled to begin singles on Saturday, but all play on the outer courts was rained out, forcing their matches to be rescheduled for Sunday.
Navarro picked up a win in her Olympic debut, topping Julia Grabher of Austria in her opener. Grabher is currently ranked No. 312, but was ranked No. 54 a year ago.
Collins took the court first, facing Laura Siegemund of Germany. Siegemund, ranked No. 64 in the world, retired with an injury in the second set, giving Collins the 6-3, 2-0 (ret.) victory. She will face Caroline Wozniacki on Monday as the third match on Court 14.
Collins is partnering with Arizona State alum Desirae Krawczyk in doubles. Krawczyk is ranked No. 12 in the world doubles rankings after making the semifinals at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year. She is a four-time major champion in mixed doubles. The duo will face Despina Papamichall and Maria Sakkari of Greece in the first round. They will play their doubles opener on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
QUOTES (7/28)
Danielle Collins –What does it mean to make your Olympic debut at the very end of your career?
“I think it’s even more special when you’re an American getting the opportunity to do this because you don’t get to be on the Olympic team unless you’re like in the top 15 in the world. So that really says a lot about the level that we have in our American group. It’s not easy to make that team. I think it’s incredibly special. And for me, it’s also special because I’ve known these women for so long. I’ve known Jess since we were young teenagers. I’ve known Des since we were about ten years old playing the national tournaments together, since we’re the same age. I’ve known Coco Gauff for a good part of her life, you know, because I met her when she was very young as well. And Emma Navarro, being from my school at UVA, I think is incredibly special. So we have a really special group and, and I talk about it endlessly, but I think the camaraderie that all of us share is just something really special. So it’s been so nice that in my final year I’ll get to have these memories forever.”
Emma Navarro – Thoughts on the Olympics and Opening Ceremonies
“I’m excited to be here. Excited to play for the U.S. There’s no higher honor in sport than playing for your country, so I just feel really grateful to be here. It was surreal standing next to LeBron and Katie and Anthony Davis. All these insanely good athletes, legends of sports. It was pretty incredible. And just seeing them holding the flag like they were, I don’t know, like Captain America or something is amazing and, it was pouring down rain. But it was an incredible atmosphere. I had chills the whole time.”