A Q & A with new Volvo Car Open owner Ben Navarro

Q: What went into your decision to acquire this event? You must have a great passion for the sport.
A: I grew up the son of a college football coach, spending a lot of time both on the sidelines and, as I got older, playing myself. I also wrestled. I didn’t discover tennis until my early 20s, when I began to watch the sport. That was a time when a lot of the household names were ending their careers, and you had people like Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and Steffi Graf really starting their careers. It was an exciting time in tennis, and I fell in love with the sport. Funny, I can’t sit for an entire football game, but I can watch a three or four hour tennis match.
The second reason I wanted to acquire the event was the importance of this tournament for our city. The Volvo (Car Open) gives Charleston residents an opportunity to see world class talent right in their own backyard. You can work all day, have an early dinner, then head out to watch the evening matches ... and still be home in time to say goodnight to your kids.
Lastly, I really believed that in order for the tournament to continue to evolve into a truly world-class event, it needed to have an owner who was local. My family and I were thrilled to be able to step up, and we are committed to being the local stewards the tournament needs to reach an even greater level of excellence.

Q: Tennis is such a passionate pastime in Charleston. What makes the sport so unique in this community?
A: There is a core of really passionate tennis players in Charleston, like nowhere I have ever seen. We have a facility called Live to Play Tennis which has a good number of members, and I have gotten to see these people over the years, and they are really supportive of their leagues and their league play. Tennis is a vehicle for social interaction, but this tennis community in Charleston also really supports up-and-coming juniors. I know that from personal experience with my own kids.

Q: Your daughter Emma has had great success on the junior circuit and played a bit at the ITF senior level, as well. What impact has her tennis had on you?
A: I have a story to go with this...I went to the WTA board because they asked me to meet with them before buying the tournament. A couple nights before that meeting, my daughter Emma came home, and we were having our usual dinner conversation. That day at Ashley Hall the topic of conversation had been, ‘What makes for a successful life?’ The general consensus among the girls was that if you feel happy all or most of the time, then that’s what makes a successful life. Almost all of the girls raised their hands agreeing with that, but my daughter Emma didn’t raise her hand. ‘I don’t agree,’ she said. When asked to explain, she said something like, ‘I think what makes for a successful life is picking something you’re passionate about, setting goals for yourself, and struggling and working every day towards those goals. Whether you accomplish those goals or not — that’s what makes for a happy and successful life.’
I told the people at the WTA that day, ‘She learned that in tennis. That’s where that came from.’ You can call it a work ethic, being ambitious ... whatever. She learned that on the court. That is another reason I have fallen in love with the sport: You’re always working towards something. It’s a complicated game — there are so many aspects of it. Almost every situation kids face in life, they face on the tennis court.
I don’t know if you’re supposed to say this about your 17-year-old daughter, but she’s an inspiration to me. She’s up before school and does a brutal workout and then hits, then goes to school and practices again, comes home and does her homework and is happy as heck doing it all. I’m quite inspired by her focus and drive.

Q: What inspires you about women’s tennis and the way that it continues to be a trail-blazer for female sports worldwide?
A: Seeing these athletes as talented, driven, athletic, incredible people…it’s nothing short of empowering for everyone to see, especially young girls who have their futures in front of them. The thing in particular I love about our tournament is that you’re truly up close and personal with these players. They’re walking through the crowd, headed to their matches. The seating is so intimate. You feel like you’re right there.

Q: What are your goals for the Volvo Car Open and the tennis center?
A: For me this is part business venture and part being a steward of what I think is a treasured community asset. My primary overall goal for the facility is that — for its size — it becomes the premier place to see an event in the Southeast, whether that be a tennis tournament, a concert or a festival of some sort.
We have Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney, Kacey Musgraves, Luke Combs, and a number of others already booked for this year. I’m very excited to get world-class talent into our facility, and we want to make sure that the stadium stays as modern as possible. All of those little things that make a place modern…those things are going to happen.
We are going to do everything in our power to have the very best players in the world here each and every year. My big goal for the tournament is to bring more of Charleston to the tournament. More local food on site, more local culture, a Gospel brunch this year, a yoga festival, women’s empowerment activities ... we’re going to make this an experience for the entire family. I have high standards for what we’re offering people.

Q: Can you tell us about your non-profit, Meeting Street Schools, and whether your students will be taking part in the VCO?
A: In 2008, we founded Meeting Street Schools, a non-profit that is focused on providing a world class education to under-resourced students in Charleston. Today, we have over 1,200 kids in our schools. We serve kids from under-resourced neighborhoods, and we are trying to do everything we can to close the achievement gap in those schools. We are trying to think outside the box. We are trying to use what we’ve learned in business and apply that in our schools.
We are going to really work hard to make tennis accessible to all kinds of kids. We are going to bend over backwards to help get kids from our schools to the event, as well as, as many people as possible from around our community.