When we interviewed Emma Navarro during Australian Open 2024, the young American was entering the tournament seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
She’d just won her first WTA title, in Hobart, and had completed an impressive 2023 season, which she began ranked 149th and ended at world No.32.
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But she’s taken it to a whole new level since then – and has been winning fans along the way.
Navarro arrived in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon thanks to a commanding 6-4 6-3 win over No.2 seed Coco Gauff on Monday. Earlier in the tournament she outplayed Naomi Osaka for the loss of just five games.
Gauff, the reigning US Open champion, had beaten Navarro handily in their earlier 2024 meeting in Auckland.
Navarro, however, is a player transformed, even in the past six months alone.
“(I’m) feeling really good. Played some good tennis today, for sure. Faced a really tough opponent, a Grand Slam champ. Second one in one tournament. I mean, that's more than I've ever faced,” Navarro said.
“I've kind of been just way more comfortable playing on that stage than I would have thought I would have felt.
“Maybe just like the accumulation of a lot more experiences on stages like that and in stadiums like that have allowed me to be more comfortable playing in that type of environment.
“I think also I'm believing that this is possible as it's happening. I'm starting to think: ‘Why not me? Why not? Why can't I make a quarterfinal run? Why can't I go deep in Grand Slams?’
“I think I'm coming into that belief as we speak.”
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Until this year, Navarro had only even won one main-draw match at a Grand Slam.
But after reaching the third round at Melbourne Park, the last 16 at Roland Garros and now the quarters at the All England Club, she’s 9-2 at the majors so far in 2024.
This was Navarro’s second time playing on Centre Court, after doing so for the first time against Osaka a few days earlier.
She was clearly honoured to play in an arena she held in such high regard, and she did justice to the opportunity with her tennis, executing an impressively-complete game to dismantle Gauff, who became flustered.
Navarro’s play, and rapid ascent, has caught the eye of Darren Cahill.
The Australian is one of the game's great coaches who has guided four players – Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Simona Halep and now Jannik Sinner – to world No.1.
"She is a delight to watch,” Cahill said on ESPN’s Wimbledon broadcast.
"Everything about (her); the way she plays, the variation in her game, the slice backhands, the (coming) to the net, being brave in the big moments.
"And her demeanour, her humbleness. Feet on the ground, didn't get too excited when she won a couple of big matches over Osaka and also Gauff.
"She is my new favourite female player."
Navarro was interviewed by ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez after the fourth-round win, and admitted that when she last played her countrywoman in January, she “wasn’t really ready” to face an opponent of Gauff’s calibre and stature in the game.
A shift came when she played at Indian Wells in March. Notable wins over Elina Svitolina and world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, and the fact these came on bigger courts in front of larger crowds, boosted her sense of belief and belonging at the top.
It showed on Monday, when she beat Gauff with “courageous” tennis on one of the grandest stages of all.
“Definitely this summer I've dealt with more emotions and I guess nerves than I have in the past just playing on bigger stages and higher stakes, I guess,” she explained.
“(I’m) trying to breathe. My physio always makes me breathe. I think breathing is a big thing.”
Navarro is now projected to rise to a career-high ranking of world No.14.
On Tuesday, she takes on Italian star Jasmine Paolini, the recent Roland Garros finalist, for a place in her first major semifinal.
That match is scheduled for Centre Court.