One year after breakthrough, Navarro is still adjusting to spotlight
A quarterfinal run at Wimbledon in 2024, where she beat Naomi Osaka and upset Coco Gauff, helped catapult Emma Navarro to the top of the WTA tour, an upward rise that continued with a trip to the semifinals of the US Open last year.
And as she makes her way through the first week of the tournament at the All England Club this year, the American is still growing more comfortable with the on and off-court spotlight.
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Navarro was the subject of a glossy spread in "Tatler" magazine at the famous The Ritz London hotel ahead of the grass-court major, where she's through to the third round after winning two matches with the loss of just seven games. In the first round, she ended two-time champion Petra Kvitova's Wimbledon career 6-3, 6-1 and followed that up on Thursday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over former Top 10 player Veronika Kudermetova.
"Every day I have new things I want to work on. I'm never bored ... and it's what makes this journey fun and sustainable to me," Navarro told ESPN after beating Kudermetova, a point she reiterated in the interview.
"I was raised to be really tough and resilient and never back down and keep on fighting to the very last point," Navarro told writer Isolde Walters. "I feel that’s something I can hang my hat on a little bit, even on days when I’m not playing the best, I can be really mentally tough and that’s what makes this journey sustainable.
"There are a lot of ups and downs and if you’re not mentally tough it’s easy to bow out."
Navarro has seen growing pains in her first season as a near-constant Top 10 player, winning back-to-back matches in just three tournaments before Wimbledon. One of those was a run to a WTA 500 title in Mérida, Mexico in March -- the second Hologic WTA Tour singles trophy of her career. The inconsistency came as she managed increased expectations.
"You go from having no eyes on you to feeling like the whole world is watching your every move," she said. "It’s definitely something I’ve had to get used to. Especially when I’m home. So many people recognize me when I’m out."
But at a tournament that saw five of the Top 10 seeds exit in the first three days, Navarro has been steadying herself.
She has arguably looked the most impressive of the remaining top players in the draw and is the only player left in the draw's third quarter that has been past the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.
