'I feel like myself:' How Emma Navarro rediscovered herself in Strasbourg title run

For Emma Navarro, winning the Internationaux de Strasbourg trophy on Saturday was symbolic of something larger -- a rediscovery of herself and a rejuvenation at the right time.

Flashback 15 months ago to February 2025. Then, Navarro stood as a the Merida champion, but in reality the championship was a double-edged sword. She was grateful to have won her second WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz title, but deep down, Navarro wasn't herself both physically and mentally, and that would be the consistent theme for the 15 months that ensued. 

"It was a bit convoluted, I guess, because I felt proud of winning a title, but just didn't feel great about where I was at [with] the level of play," Navarro said to wtatennis.com Saturday. "How I felt physically and mentally, I was just not in a great place."

The rest of the 2025 season on the WTA Tour would be a struggle, as the American only managed to win three matches or more at a single tournament just once in Beijing. Frequent early exits at tournaments created an underwhelming 2025 season. That trickled into the beginning of 2026, and she also missed a period of time from mid-March to early-May because of illness, that saw her PIF WTA ranking fall from No. 10 when she won Merida to No. 39 ahead of Strasbourg. 

This past week in Strasbourg was the week Navarro needed, and was no better way to celebrate her recent 25th birthday. She exceeded her own expectations. In her third tournament back since the short absence, Navarro leaves with her third title (first on clay), her seventh top 10 win (def. No. 9 Victoria Mboko in the final) and won five consecutive tour-level matches since her run to the 2024 US Open semifinals. She's projected to be in the top 25 come Monday.

In Strasbourg, she found herself again just ahead of her Roland Garros first round match against Janice Tjen at a tournament where she exited in the first round in 2025. After the final, wtatennis.com spoke with Navarro in a phone interview just before she left for the French capital. Here's the full conversation:

During your trophy presentation, you used the term, 'rocky,' to describe the past year and a half. What did you learn going through that time period, and in the context of that, what did this win mean to you? 

Navarro: The past a year and a half has definitely had its ups and downs. I had some health challenges to work through and it's been really tough, but I feel just really proud of how I've been able to be resilient even when things weren't going my way. To be able to kind of come out of that and win a title in my third tournament back on tour -- it was only only a couple months away, but it felt like a long time.

Coming into this week, I really wasn't expecting to be walking away with the title. I'm really proud of the work that my team and I put in. I feel grateful they've stuck with me through thick and thin and have always been by my side through it all.

Compared to your last title in Merida, how would you kind of compare your form and the way you were playing then to this week in Strasbourg?

Navarro: Honestly, I feel way better now than I did after Merida. Winning Merida was sort of  -- I don't know, it was a bit convoluted, I guess, because I felt proud of winning a title, but just didn't feel great about where I was at [with] the level of play. How I felt physically and mentally, I was just not in a great place.

Now I feel like myself, I feel like I'm enjoying myself on court and playing in the way I want to play, and playing with a lot of gratitude, reveling in the challenge of it all and and embracing everything that comes with trying to play the highest level tennis that I can. I feel proud to win the title and also excited for the future to continue on this path.

The immediate future, Roland Garros starts in a few days for you. Going into that tournament, what are your expectations and what are your thoughts just about playing Janice Tjen in the first round?

Navarro:  It's a quick turnaround for sure. I haven't looked at the draw at all, I know who I play first round, but besides that, I haven't even looked, so I'll just be taking it one match at a time. I'll be as ready as I can be to go on Tuesday and try to just continue playing in the way I enjoy playing and just taking it all in.

Regarding the match, I wanted to ask specifically about that fourth game in the opening set that had 12 deuces and eight break points. What was your mindset was going through that and how important was that game in particular?

Navarro: That was a really tough game. I kind of feel like the getting from 3 to 4 [games] in a set is always a pretty pivotal moment. And if you can do it and keep a 0 on the scoreboard for your opponent, that feels pretty good. I knew that was that was a game I really wanted.

But more than anything, I just wanted to play it in the way that I wanted to play it and set the tone for the rest of the set. Even if I lost that game, I would feel good about myself going into the following games. Felt good to kind of get over the hump of that game, but more than anything, just felt good about how I took it on.

In the second set, Victoria used the drop shot pretty frequently, and it worked. Did you change your approach during the match when that was happening? 

Navarro: I honestly feel like the drop shot kind of turned the second set around for her a little bit and she used it really effectively, really intelligently and also executed really well. That was tough, and I think I kind of waited until after the second set to adjust what I was doing and account for it a little bit more.

I came out in the third set, 'I'm not gonna lose because of her drop shot.' I think it was in the first game or so, she hit a drop shot, and I was on it. That was kind of a point of mind that I'm not going to lose because of the drop shot.

Any celebration plans before Paris? 

Navarro:  No big celebration plans [laughing]. Head over to Paris and we'll see. It'll probably be pretty late, so hopefully the best celebration for me would be getting a good night's sleep. I'll try to enjoy the rest of today with my team and some of my family. I think it's important to enjoy wins a little bit even when you got to play again in a few days.