Emma Navarro, the woman in the arena, will continue to trust her process

NEW YORK—Emma Navarro, the promising newcomer to the upper echelon of tennis, is a 23-year-old of uncommon poise and intelligence. But neither those virtues, nor her scampering and scrapping athleticism, were quite enough to see her through her semifinal clash with Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open Thursday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Sabalenka, a finalist in Flushing Meadows last year and the No. 2 ranked player in the world, applied her bone-crushing power and physicality to end Navarro’s deep run, 6-3, 7-6 (2), the origin story of the native New Yorker coming full circle this fortnight in Gotham.

Earlier in the tournament Navarro spoke of how, having moved to Charleston, S.C. as a child, she had only practiced on the Ashe court one previous time, back when she was playing the juniors.

“I remember it just felt so big,” she said. “I was so dizzy, just like—out of sorts, being on Ashe. Then I stepped in there earlier this morning. You know, it was probably half the size as I remembered it being. . . I think it’s sort of a testament to how far I’ve come in this sport.”

Navarro’s journey in tennis over the past year-plus has been remarkable. She had just one Grand Slam singles win to her name until this year, and she’s just the sixth player in the last 40 years to make the US Open semifinals having had no previous wins at the tournament. Although she won her first singles title just this year (at a 250 in Hobart, Australia), she has one more hard-court win (30) this year than top-ranked Iga Swiatek. At this time last year, Navarro was ranked outside the Top 50, now she’s in the Top 10. She doesn’t fear or avoid challenges; she runs toward them.

Although Navarro won the 2021 NCAA singles title while at the University of Virginia, she did not bolt for the WTA Tour. She returned to play another year of college tennis with little to gain but experience. It was an early sign that she’s a level-headed, diligent individual who personifies that oft-stated, easily-ignored dictum to “trust the process.” In Navarro’s case, the process meant building confidence through experience. Letting her career develop like a photo negative in a chemical bath.

The medium in this case was matches—matches galore. Forsaking college, Navarro hit the minor league trail and played 88 matches in 2023, winning five titles. Although she was in the Top 25 in April of this year, she played WTA 125s after both Madrid and Rome, knowing she would get more matches as preparation for Roland Garros. This US Open was her fifth tournament in five weeks.

Every match is a learning experience. The more I can be in the arena, the more I can learn. Emma Navarro

“I love to just kind of stay in match mode,” Navarro said by way of explanation, after her first-round win here. “I think it’s tiring in one sense to always be in that mode where I have to play a match tomorrow, but in the other sense I think constantly putting yourself in the arena, it allows for a lot of growth. Every match is a learning experience. The more I can be in the arena, the more I can learn.”

Navarro’s “process” is next level, and the payoff has been obvious. Her trip to the semis was no journey through a rent draw. She defeated, among others, an in-form Marta Kostyuk, defending champion Coco Gauff, and former Top 10 talent Paula Badosa. By the time Navarro came up against Sabalenka, the most ferocious ball striker on the WTA Tour, her fighting spirit was leathery.

“Yeah, for sure, there was a different feeling walking out there tonight as opposed to the last few times I played,” Navarro said after the match. “Part of it, it was the semifinals. Part of it it’s a night match, my first night match on Ashe. Obviously it’s disappointing to not be able to get the win today, and it looked like I kind of got my teeth into it there at the end of the second set. I felt I could definitely push it to a third. Wasn’t able to do so.”

Navarro had no reason to apologize. Only one player has managed to get a set off Sabalenka in the tournament, and the Belarusian crushed Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen the previous round, giving up just three games. Navarro had said before the match that she would “push back” against Sabalenka’s power, and the extent to which she did it, in often furious rallies, was eye-opening.

Navarro’s adventures on the tournament trail have left her with a new sense of what it takes to be a “tough” player, one who won’t beat herself. She said this week that it’s easy to be tough when you’re playing well. But the other times are more important.

“I think toughness is when you can continue to go after your shots and play aggressive tennis when some doubt creeps in, and when you’re not 100 percent sure about just certain shots or how you’re playing. I think it’s the ability to not get discouraged by things not going your way or by you making mistakes. You know, you’re just kind of just unfazed by the things that are happening out there.”

Navarro put those words in motion on this cool evening at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. She handled herself like a seasoned veteran, showing very little sign of nerves in what was undoubtedly the biggest match of her career. She will undoubtedly see it as another step in her process.

“It was really important for me to take a more methodical approach and kind of go through all the steps to get to where I am now, and not feel like I’m anywhere where I’m not ready to be yet,” she said. “I’ve gone through a rite of passage.”

The rite has also put her in the limelight, on the radar as a player to watch closely in the coming years. That isn’t something she sought. If anything, she has avoided attracting attention to herself while she pursues her process. But maybe it isn’t such a threatening distraction.

“I thought being on the radar would be more of a scary thing than it actually is,” she said before the final. “Now that I think I’m here, it’s not so bad.”