Posted by Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday January 20, 2025
After his third round victory over Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, Emma Navarro spoke in court about tiresome cycling sessions with his father, Ben Navarro, and cited the word cycling and crying. “We coined the term ‘biking and crying’ because we would be six hours in, we would all have tears in our eyes and be exhausted trying to climb the mountain,” said Navarro. “I learned a lot of resilience growing up.”
That difficulty is paying dividends for the Melbourne Americans. On Monday night he got his fourth consecutive victory in three sets against the Russian Daria Kasatkina6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Navarro dropped three match points in the second set, but had the mental fortitude to hang on and finish off the No. 9 seed in a hot decision.
The 23-year-old, who has now won seven sets in a row at majors, and eight out of nine overall, credits mental toughness for her run in Melbourne. He got a quarterfinal match with No.2-seeded Iga Swiatek (more on that at the bottom of the page) the hard way.
“I feel like it’s more of a mental test than anything,” Navarro said. “I’ve worked hard to be able to play three sets and play two, three hours, whatever it takes. I feel like my fitness has paid off here in my first four games.”
Navarro says he has yet to play his best tennis at the Australian Open. It is commendable, then, that he reached his first quarterfinal at the Australian Open without his A game.
Experience is often a big asset when it comes to winning three setters at majors, but Navarro, playing in his ninth major Slam tournament, doesn’t have a ton of it. He relies on a tenacity that seems to be embedded in his DNA.
“I feel like it’s mental toughness more than anything,” she said. “I feel like I wasn’t playing my way. Today was the best game I’ve played. I feel like every game I’ve been getting a little bit better.”
Navarro is 10-2 lifetime in three-setters at majors, and 28-15 overall. His fitness, and his commitment to improving that, is a big reason why he has now reached at least the quarterfinals in his last three Grand Slam appearances.
In the quarterfinals, the thing that reached the quarterfinals will be tested in the opposite way. Swiatek, who is a five-time Slam champion, has lost only 11 games in four rounds. That’s significantly less than what 61 Navarro produced. The American knows he will have to call it all and others will have to deal with Swiatek’s firepower.
He lost 6-0, 6-2 to the Pole in their only previous meeting, at an 80K opponent in 2018.
“When I look back on my tennis career, I feel like there weren’t many times when I was blown away, and I was blown away on the court playing him,” admitted Navarro. “I think maybe at that time he was ranked 200 or something. We played at my local club in Charleston. I said, ‘Wow, this girl is very beautiful.’
Rising in confidence, in his game and in his fitness, Navarro believes it will be different this time.
“Certainly the conditions are different now. I feel like I’m pretty good, too. You know, I’m ready for a good challenge.”
