Virginia Tennis: Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro Advance to Wimbledon 4th Round

Two former Virginia tennis stars are among the 16 players remaining in the ladies’ singles draw at The Championships Wimbledon 2024. Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro both advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in their respective careers.

Collins, who won two NCAA singles titles at Virginia in 2014 and 2016, will face No. 31 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in the fourth round on Monday (time TBD), while Navarro, the 2021 NCAA Singles Champion, will face the No. 2-seeded American Coco Gauff on Sunday at 12pm ET (ABC).

Collins, the No. 11 seed in the tournament, defeated Clara Tauson 6-3, 7-6 in the first round and Dalma Galfi 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. In the third round on Saturday, Collins fell behind the No. 20 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 0-4 in the first set, but then the match went into a weather delay. When play resumed, Collins went on a tear, winning the next nine games to claim the first set and seize control of the match. Haddad Maia won three of the next four games to put some pressure back on Collins, but she then polished off the match for the 6-4, 6-4 win. The victory sends Collins to the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in her career (sixth Wimbledon appearance) and marks her fifth trip to the fourth round or further at a Grand Slam in her career.

Navarro, meanwhile, beat Qiang Wang 6-0, 6-2 in the first round and then breezed past Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-1 in a second round match that lasted just 58 minutes. Diana Shnaider took the first set off of Navarro in the third round on Friday, but Navarro rallied to post a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory to send her to the fourth round in just her second-career appearance at Wimbledon. It’s already been a remarkable year for the 23-year-old Navarro, who is the No. 19 seed at Wimbledon but the No. 17-ranked women’s singles player in the world after winning her first WTA title at the Hobart International in January and also posting a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open. Now, Navarro will look to take down world No. 2 Coco Gauff, who got the better of Navarro when they met earlier this year in the semifinals of the 2024 Auckland Open.

Last month, both Emma Navarro and Danielle Collins were named to the 2024 United States Olympic Tennis Team competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics starting on July 27th at Roland Garros.