Tennis
Emma Navarro is putting a new, fresh take on life as a tennis pro
At only 24 years old, the American is already ranked 11th in the world. She talks us through the best advice she's received, how to nail the perfect steak and what she’d tell her 90-year-old self.
They don't make them quite like Emma Navarro any more. At just 24 years old, the Charleston by way of New York player is both a throwback and a fresh voice in tennis all at once. As happy to be teasing her peers on Instagram as she is securing her 11th-place global ranking, Navarro has charisma to match her talent.
Coached by the well known and respected coach Peter Ayers, Navarro's star is firmly on the rise, with a win against Barbora Krejčíková at Wimbledon and Naomi Osaka at this year's Bad Homburg Open in Germany.
The message is clear: Play tennis? Then Navarro is coming for you.
Her rapid ascent wasn't always so fast-paced. Raised in the sticky South Carolinian air of Charleston, Navarro first picked up a racket on a slow Saturday morning with her dad and two older brothers. "My dad just kind of got all of us into it," Navarro says. "I think he realized how important the lessons you learn through sports are."
A long-time Charleston resident, Navarro loves training at home
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She began working with Ayers at 14, but getting to training was a struggle, with her mum frequently tipping water on her to get her out of bed, which might just be where Navarro's sense of humour comes from.
She went on to play tennis at the University of Virginia, where she became the 2021 NCAA singles champion (her younger sister, Meggie, also played there.) Sure, Navarro could have skipped college and got stuck into her pro career, but she wanted the extra years to really get to know herself and what she wanted from life. "It took me going to college to realize that a more traditional path is probably not for me," she says.
From there, Navarro battled it out playing smaller pro matches and building up victories – and confidence – as she went. "I don't like to skip steps," she says, adding that by the time it came to play bigger tournaments, she knew she belonged there.
To date, she's bagged two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a major semi-final at the 2024 US Open, as well as being named the WTA Tour Most Improved Player of the Year for 2024.
It's an impressive record, but life off the court is just as important to her. Fresh from the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, DC, where she lost out to Maria Sakkari in the Round of 16, Navarro jumped on a call to discuss her favourite place to play tennis, everything you need to know about her home and her American Football appreciation.
Navarro didn't take the normal tennis pro route, attending college first
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It's definitely nice to go home to Charleston and just play on the courts that I've always played at. I guess you kind of feel like a kid again
My favorite place I've played is the center court at Wimbledon. I think it's an atmosphere that's hard to beat
Navarro's game is on the cusp of putting her in the global top 10
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Something my coach talks about a lot is, 'All you have to be is everything you are.' I think that's really powerful, especially on days when you're doubting yourself
A New York native, Navarro is now a fully-fledged Charleston fan
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