Navarro continues her 2024 surge with strong French Open
Wed, 06/05/2024 - 9:56am
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Local tennis star impressive in a breakout year
By:
Philip M. Bowman, sports@thedanielislandnews.com
Emma Navarro continues to be brilliant in her breakout year.
Navarro reached the round of 16 in a Grand Slam tennis tournament for the first time in her promising career with an impressive run at Roland-Garros.
Although it ended in a loss to No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, Navarro showed the world her skills and mettle.
Sabalenka posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the French Open showdown on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but Navarro’s stock continues to rise. She is expected to jump from World No. 24 to 17, her highest ranking to date on the WTA Tour.
Navarro won her first WTA title in January, picked up her first Top 5 win in March, and made her Top 20 debut in April.
Not bad for a player who was ranked World No. 143 at the end of the 2022 season, yet ended 2023 as World No. 32.
“I’m coming into my own as to who I am as a player,’” Navarro told WTA Insider. “I’m getting more secure with the non-negotiables of how I like to play. I feel like I have a better grasp on who I am as a player, more than I have in the past.”
Navarro, who finished second in a recent WTA 125 tourney in Paris, honed her skills on the green clay courts in the U.S. and continues to impress on the red clay of European courts.
“It allows for some unique tennis, which is what I like,” Navarro said. “I like problem-solving, I like figuring things out. I like that I can be creative. I like to play with some style. That’s what I enjoy about tennis, and the clay allows for that, a little bit more than hard courts.”
Navarro defeated Sabalenka at Indian Wells earlier this year – her first victory over a top-five player. But Sabalenka has been near perfect in Grand Slams. The two-time Australian Open winner was seeking a spot in her seventh consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Sabalenka, a 26-year-old native from Minsk, Belarus, had praise for Navarro, who holds down the No. 5 spot among top American women.
“I played a really tough battle against her at Indian Wells,” Sabalenka said. It was a really tough match, and I was going here today ready to fight for every point. I was ready for long rallies. I knew I had to work hard for this win, so I’m super happy with the level I played today.”
Navarro owns a 30-12 record this year and is 180-101 in her career.