WIMBLEDON — Emma Navarro is one of the rising stars in American tennis and at Wimbledon on Sunday she faces a younger compatriot who has already gone the distance at a grand slam.
Coco Gauff, 20, is the No 2 seed at Wimbledon and is out to add to the US Open title she won last year – and also heads into this match as the highest seed left after Iga Swiatek’s exit on Saturday.
Standing in her way of a place in the last eight is 23-year-old Navarro, the No 19 seed who is the daughter of Ben Navarro, a billionaire businessman who has an estimated net worth of £1.17bn according to Forbes – and bought the Western & Southern Open tournament, played in Cincinnati, back in 2022.
Emma Navarro may stand to inherit a fortune but she is also eager to carve a name for herself on the sporting stage.
She has been enjoying a breakthrough campaign five years on from her WTA Tour debut, with the New York City-born right-hander breaking into the world’s top 20 in March.
That was off the back of winning her first WTA title in January – the Hobart International in Australia – before she then reached the third round of the Australian Open and fourth round at Roland Garros.
Navarro reached a career-high ranking of No 17 in June, and having exited in the first round of her Wimbledon debut last year, this time around she has built on the momentum that also saw her reach the semi-finals at Bad Homburg last month.
At Wimbledon so far, Navarro has beaten Qiang Wang before thriving on her Centre Court bow against wild card Naomi Osaka, overwhelming the four-time grand slam champion – who was appearing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019 – 6-4, 6-1.
“I really tried to enjoy it and take it all in and really appreciate the opportunity, also while playing good tennis,” Navarro said.
Navarro admitted she found it “pretty cool” to be playing on the same court Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have graced in the past, although confessed she “didn’t watch that much tennis” growing up.
She added: “My brother watched way more than I did. He would get up at, like, five in the morning and catch a fifth set of whatever match. Or if they were playing in Australia, he would be up in the middle of the night watching. On occasion I would join him.
“I really never watched that much tennis growing up except if it was maybe a grand slam final.
“I remember watching Federer and Nadal play. I don’t know how many times they played at Wimbledon, but yeah, that’s a specific memory I have. I was actually thinking about that when I was out on the court, just that I’m playing on a court that Federer and Nadal once played on, and that’s pretty cool.”
Navarro then battled back from a set down against Diana Shnaider to reach the fourth round and book a meeting with Gauff, which will be the last match on Centre Court on Sunday.
“She’s a really great player, obviously,” Navarro said of Gauff. “Probably the most athletic player on tour in my opinion, and she does it all really well. She’ll obviously pose a huge challenge.
“When I played her at the beginning of the year, I wasn’t necessarily ready for that challenge. We practiced a couple of times this year. They’ve gone differently than the match went at the beginning of the year.
“I know I have the level inside of me that can beat a player like her. It’s maybe just a matter of doing it on a bigger stage.”
Navarro was referring to their only meeting to date, where she lost 6-3, 6-1 to Gauff in the semi-finals at Auckland in January.
Gauff sent down 10 aces in that 62-minute match, putting in a near-perfect service display as Navarro struggled to cope. Nevertheless, Gauff is taking nothing for granted.
“She’s a tough opponent,” Gauff said. “I always knew just watching her play, a lot of people think her ranking is a surprise. Just growing up with her, I always knew she was very talented and knew her game would translate well on tour.
“I think she has a very all-court game. Playing her is going to be a tough match. She’s had some good wins this tournament. I don’t expect it to be easy.
“Relationship-wise, we’re very friendly with each other. I wouldn’t say we’re, like, close friends, just because we grew up, but then we kind of split because she went to college. But we’re always very friendly with each other.”
From opponents on Sunday, Gauff and Navarro will be Olympic teammates at Paris 2024 later this month.
“I’m super excited to be on the same Olympic team with her,” Gauff added. “She’s a very, very nice person. Her family is nice.
“So I’m very excited to be able to play against her and then play on the same team as her in the Olympics.”
Asked whether it is difficult facing someone she has a good relationship with, Gauff added: “It doesn’t really affect a lot for me. I feel like in general I’m friendly with a lot of the girls on tour.
“Maybe not close friends. Obviously there’s a couple I’m close friends with. Most of the girls I’m very friendly. It doesn’t affect anything.
“If anything, it makes the match more fun to play. You anticipate it more because you know you’re playing a good competitor and you know you’re playing with someone who really treats the game with a lot of respect.
“Against her, I think Emma is a very good player of the game, just person of the game, and person off the court. I think it’s going to be a fun match regardless. But I treat it the same. I think we’re all grownups and we know this is just a tennis match.”
