Emma Navarro

Emma Navarro (born May 18, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of No. 8 by the WTA, achieved on September 9, 2024, and a doubles ranking of No. 93, achieved on August 12, 2024. Navarro has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, and reached a major semifinal at the 2024 US Open.

Navarro played college tennis at the University of Virginia and won the NCAA Singles Championship in 2021. She won her first WTA Tour title in 2024 at the 2024 Hobart International. In 2025, she was part of the United States squad that reached the Billie Jean King Cup final.

Navarro finished as the runner-up in the junior 2019 French Open singles draw, and won the junior 2019 French Open in doubles playing with Chloe Beck. They also finished as runners-up in the junior 2019 Australian Open.

Navarro made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2019 Charleston Open in South Carolina, after receiving a wildcard for the singles and doubles events.

Navarro was rated as the best tennis recruit in the nation and joined the Virginia Cavaliers in the fall of 2020 after having previously committed to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. For her freshman year, she went 25–1 in singles and reached the No. 1 ranking in the country. She avenged her only loss of the season in the final of the 2021 NCAA singles championship, beating defending champion Estela Perez-Somarriba of the University of Miami. Navarro made it to the NCAA doubles semifinals partnering with Rosie Johanson. Navarro was named the ITA Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award. With her NCAA win, she earned a wild card into the 2021 US Open main draw where she made her Grand Slam tournament debut.

Navarro went 26–2 in singles for her second-year, ending the year ranked No. 2 nationally, after losing to Abigail Rencheli of NC State in the round of 16 of the 2022 NCAA singles championship. She was again an All-American in singles and doubles and was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award. She left Virginia after her second season.

For her debut at the French Open as a wildcard, Navarro reached the second round defeating lucky loser, Erika Andreeva for her first win at a major. Navarro reached a WTA Tour semifinal for the first time in her career at the 2023 Bad Homburg Open in Bad Homburg, Germany as an alternate defeating Alizé Cornet and then Rebeka Masarova by retirement.

Navarro was runner-up at the Swedish Open, losing the final to Olga Danilović in three sets. She reached the top 50 at No. 49, following a first-round showing at the US Open, and another semifinal at the San Diego Open in San Diego on September 18. She became the third American to crack the top 50 in 2023, joining Alycia Parks and Peyton Stearns.

Navarro finished the season ranked No. 38 in singles, her highest year-end in her career.

She reached a third semifinal at the Auckland Classic defeating seventh seed Petra Martić in straight sets, and another back-to-back semifinal at the Hobart International, defeating lucky loser Viktoriya Tomova, in three sets. Navarro defeated Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue and reached her first WTA Tour final on her debut at the tournament. Navarro won her maiden title defeating former two-time Hobart champion Elise Mertens.

Seeded for the first time at the Australian Open as No. 27, Navarro defeated Wang Xiyu and Elisabetta Cocciaretto to reach the third round of a major for the first time in her career. As a result, Navarro reached the top 25 in the singles rankings at No. 23, on January 29, 2024. Seeded third at the San Diego Open, she reached the semifinals defeating Katerina Siniaková and qualifier Daria Saville. Seeded 23rd at the Indian Wells Open in California, Navarro advanced to the fourth round with wins over Ukrainians Lesia Tsurenko and 16th seed Elina Svitolina. Navarro reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal by defeating world No. 2 and previous year runner-up, Aryna Sabalenka, her biggest win by ranking in her career. Navarro became the first American to defeat a top-2 opponent at the tournament since Serena Williams did so in 2001 against Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals. As a result, Navarro broke into the top 20 in the singles rankings.

Seeded 20th at the next WTA 1000, the 2024 Miami Open, she reached the fourth round by defeating qualifier Storm Hunter and 12th seed Jasmine Paolini, before losing to Jessica Pegula in three sets. Navarro reached the fourth round of a major for the first time at the 2024 French Open with a win over 14th seed Madison Keys in two sets in the third round. She eventually lost to second seed Aryna Sabalenka moving her to a new career-high of No. 17 in the world, on June 10, 2024. At Wimbledon, Navarro reached her first major quarterfinal with wins over Wang Qiang, Naomi Osaka, Diana Shnaider, and world No. 2, Coco Gauff before losing to world No. 7 and eventual finalist, Jasmine Paolini. Due to her run, Navarro reached the top 15 in the singles rankings on July 15, 2024. She made her debut at the Summer Olympics in Paris where she advanced to the third round losing there to eventual gold medalist, Zheng Qinwen.

Seeded eighth at the Canadian Open, Navarro defeated Magda Linette, 11th seed Marta Kostyuk, and lucky loser Taylor Townsend to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinal. Navarro followed that with reaching another semifinal at the newly upgraded WTA 500 Monterrey Open in Mexico with a win over Camila Osorio and ninth seed Magdalena Fręch. As a result, Navarro reached a new career-high of No. 12 in the world, on August 26, 2024. Seeded 13th at the US Open and seeded for the first time at this major, she reached the third round with wins over Anna Blinkova, in less than an hour, and Arantxa Rus. She reached the fourth round in a third major in 2024, with a win over 19th seed Marta Kostyuk. Again Navarro upset defending champion and third seed, Gauff, to reach her second major quarterfinal in a row. Navarro advanced to her first major semifinal with a straight-sets victory over Paula Badosa, subsequently rising to a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8. She lost to second seed Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.

Although she was No. 8 in the world, Navarro missed out on a place at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia due to Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková receiving entry because of a WTA rule which gives a spot to a major winner if they finish in the top 20. Navarro turned down a place as an alternate with her agent saying that she had not yet recovered from a recent illness.

In December, Navarro was named the Most Improved Player of the Year by the WTA.

Emma Navarro is the daughter of Ben and Kelly Navarro, and the granddaughter of Frank Navarro, a former American football player and coach. Emma Navarro's father, Ben Navarro, has significantly contributed to the tennis world through his company, Beemok Capital. This includes acquiring and investing in professional tournaments, such as the Credit One Charleston Open, where Emma has competed. In addition to funding a major renovation of the Charleston stadium, his company also acquired the rights to the Cincinnati Open in 2022. Navarro is of Italian descent.

Navarro attended Ashley Hall, an all-girls private school in downtown Charleston, where she played on the varsity tennis team. She is good friends with fellow American tennis player Danielle Collins whom she views as a role model.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

• Navarro has a 6–10 (38%) record against players who were ranked in the top 10 at the time the match was played.

2024

• WTA Most Improved Player

• Emma Navarro at the Women's Tennis Association

• Emma Navarro at the International Tennis Federation

• Emma Navarro at the Billie Jean King Cup (archived former page)

• Emma Navarro at Team USA

• Emma Navarro at Olympics.com