‘Regular Emma’ Growing Accustomed to Elite Status

NAVARRO: ‘IN MY HEAD, I CAN HANDLE ANY DEFICIT, ANY CHALLENGE’

She flashed across our flat-screens a whole lot last summer: Navigating the lawns of the All England Club one minute, gliding down a rainy Seine alongside LeBron James the next, even bringing the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd to its collective feet in New York.

Emma Navarro sure came into her own in 2024, a year that saw her capture her maiden WTA title in Hobart, reach the Round of 16 at the Paris Olympics, top countrywoman Coco Gauff en route to both the Wimbledon quarters and US Open semis, and finish inside the year-end Top 10 in the PIF WTA Rankings.

“More people recognize me, for sure, especially in Charleston,” said Navarro. “But I’ve learned to just embrace that part of it. It’s a little bit unnatural having a bunch of people know who you are, and you don’t know who they are. That line can get blurry a little bit. People think they know you a little more than they do. That’s been something that I’ve had to kind of get used to.”

“In another sense, so many things have stayed the same. I’m still putting a lot of my time and energy into tennis and continuing to improve myself and be the best player I can be. I’m really lucky to have people that are very grounding for me around me. They make me feel like ‘regular Emma’, I guess.”

Navarro admits that the learning curve remains a steep one.

“I’ve had so much to learn, and I’m still learning new things every day,” said Navarro, whose second career title came last month at the Mérida Open Akron in Mexico. “I know as long as I’m on tour I’ll be continuing to learn about myself as a player, about facing other opponents, about life on tour and how things affect you in different ways.”

“I always think there’s a chance that I can win the match. I just rely a lot on my toughness and grit and my ability to stick in there. In my head, I can handle any deficit, any challenge that I’m faced with.” — Emma Navarro

“There’s so much to learn. As a player, I’ve gotten a lot more aggressive. I think I move better than I ever have before. Mindset-wise, I never think I’m going to lose until I shake hands. I always think there’s a chance that I can win the match. I just rely a lot on my toughness and grit and my ability to stick in there. In my head, I can handle any deficit, any challenge that I’m faced with.”

“Emma is one of the grittiest players I think I have ever watched, and I got to watch her courtside at Billie Jean King Cup last year, and just kind of hearing her talk to herself and get herself through some tough matches and tough moments where she wasn’t playing well was so impressive,” said fellow American Madison Keys, who in January broke through to her first major singles title in Melbourne. “I think it’s one of her biggest weapons that she has. I think you can never really count her out, and I think that’s why she’s able to do as well as she does.”

Navarro is happy to be a part of a strong core of U.S. players who’ve risen to the top of the sport. She is currently one of five American women in the Top 20: No. 3 Gauff, No. 4 Pegula, No. 5 Keys, No. 11 Navarro and No. 16 Amanda Anisimova.

“It’s awesome. Even just to be grouped in with those names is really cool,” she said. “It’s really cool that American tennis is back, I guess you could say, and thriving. It’s fun to cheer Jess on when she’s playing in Miami, and Maddie, of course, starting the year off winning the Australian Open title. I think we push each other to always keep getting better.”