Thursday, July 3, 2025
Home Tenis "You had kids cheating... it's tough, brutal" - Emma Navarro gets emotional,...

“You had kids cheating… it’s tough, brutal” – Emma Navarro gets emotional, recalling harsh realities of junior tennis

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.

Ad

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:

Ad

"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.

Ad

"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."

Ad

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.

Ad

Emma Navarro has rapidly risen through the ranks in the tennis world

Emma Navarro at The Wimbledon Championship | Getty Images
Emma Navarro at The Wimbledon Championship | Getty Images

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.

Ad

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."

Ad

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.

Quick Links

Edited by Hitesh Nigam
RELATED ARTICLES

Wimbledon 2025: 5 upset alerts on Day 5 ft. Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz

Wimbledon 2025 witnessed a bloodbath for the first couple of days, with a total of 23 seeds crashing out in the first round across the men's and women's draws. Top 10 players Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Zheng Qinwen were some of the biggest casualties of the first round. Ad The

“I’ve been through that many times” – Novak Djokovic & Naomi Osaka sympathize with Alexander Zverev after shocking lonely admission at Wimbledon

Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic have become the latest tennis stars to make their feelings known on Alexander Zverev's remarks on his mental health struggles. After his shocking first-round defeat to Arthur Rinderknech at Wimbeldon, Zverev revealed that he has been struggling with his mental health since the Australian Open earlier this year. The German

“That’s why Novak Djokovic struggled” – Nick Kyrgios says any opponent who wants to beat Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon needs 3 things going on...

Nick Kyrgios has given his verdict on who the favorite for the men's singles title at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships is, picking World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz. However, the Aussie doesn't think Alcaraz is unbeatable, only that any opponent who wants to beat him should have three things go in their favor on the day.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Wimbledon 2025: 5 upset alerts on Day 5 ft. Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz

Wimbledon 2025 witnessed a bloodbath for the first couple of days, with a total of 23 seeds crashing out in the first round across the men's and women's draws. Top 10 players Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Zheng Qinwen were some of the biggest casualties of the first round. Ad The

“I’ve been through that many times” – Novak Djokovic & Naomi Osaka sympathize with Alexander Zverev after shocking lonely admission at Wimbledon

Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic have become the latest tennis stars to make their feelings known on Alexander Zverev's remarks on his mental health struggles. After his shocking first-round defeat to Arthur Rinderknech at Wimbeldon, Zverev revealed that he has been struggling with his mental health since the Australian Open earlier this year. The German

Lakers Trade Rumors: Dalton Knecht, Rui Hachimura make way for 6-foot-7 wing from Heat to complete trio of No. 1 picks

The LA Lakers have added yet another No. 1 pick to their ranks. Signing Deandre Ayton was a good pickup, especially considering the options remaining in free agency. Nevertheless, Rob Pelinka should be far from done making moves, especially now that LeBron James has put pressure on him to improve the roster. Ad The Lakers

LeBron James sends his condolences to the family of deceased Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota

Diogo Jota's shocking death has put the sports community into a frenzy, and we're not talking just about the football world. The Portuguese star and Liverpool player was involved in a fatal car accident in Zamora, Spain, in the early hours of Thursday morning. Ad The 28-year-old was with his younger brother, Andre Silva, also

Recent Comments