American tennis player Emma Navarro recalled her time playing in the junior circuit after she cruised through the second round of Wimbledon 2025. The 24-year-old American comfortably beat Czech Petra Kvitova in straight sets in her first-round encounter, before doing the same in her second match against Veronika Kudermetova.
The American, who won her first title in 2024 at the Hobart International in Australia, began her tennis journey when she was three years old. Before that, she’d be on the court as a ballgirl for her father and brothers, and as soon as she could hold a racket, her father began training her.
Navarro soon outlasted her siblings and became the only one in the family to pursue a career in the sport, and joined the junior circuit. Reminiscing about it, she said, via Tatler:
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"Junior tennis was brutal. You had kids cheating. We’re out there and they have 12-year-olds calling their own lines, keeping their own score and even at that age, there’s immense amounts of pressure."
Emma Navarro stated that the sport helped her learn valuable life lessons, lessons that would come in handy in her time in the junior circuit. She recalled how brutal the circuit was and how her experiences there helped her deal with adversity.
"Kids are going to cheat because they feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. It’s tough. You have to learn how to deal with a lot of adversity, how to deal with someone on the other side of the net who’s trying to take something from you and who’s maybe not treating you in the best kind of way."
The 2025 edition of Wimbledon has been a nightmare for top-seeded players on both the gentlemen's and ladies' singles draws. Top players like Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, and Daniil Medvedev all bowed out in the first round.
The ladies' singles draw has been even more tumultuous with the second-seeded and reigning Roland Garros champion, Coco Gauff, third-seed Jessica Pegula, and fifth-seed Zheng Qinwen being eliminated in the first round.
However, Emma Navarro has been steadily dispatching her opponents in silence. She has gone from 121st in the world to tenth in less than a year after deep runs in the 2024 Wimbledon and US Open tournaments.
Emma Navarro has rapidly risen through the ranks in the tennis world
Speaking in the aforementioned interview on a day off at the All England Championships, Emma Navarro mentioned how she loved the sport because everything was in her control, even on the good days and the bad ones.
Navarro said:
"What I love about tennis is that it’s totally in my control… I like that your bad days on the court are totally your fault and with your good days, it’s [like]: congratulations to you… I am responsible for everything that goes on on my side of the court. I’m not out there with team mates or other people. I like bearing that responsibility."
Wimbledon 2024 was the turning point when Navarro beat former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka, and also US Open and French Open champion Coco Gauff, en route to the quarterfinals at the All England Club last year.
Speaking of her rapid rise in rankings, Navarro stated that it was a change that needed getting used to:
"You go from having no eyes on you to feeling like the whole world is watching your every move… it’s definitely something I’ve had to get used to. Especially when I’m home. So many people recognize me when I’m out."
In the third round of Wimbledon, Emma Navarro will be focused on not taking her foot off the pedal. She will look for her best to improve her performance from last year and reach the semifinals for the first time at SW19, maybe even go all the way.
