Charleston's Emma Navarro on US Open's big stage: 'I belong' (2024)

When Emma Navarro turned pro in June of 2022, she made a deal with her tennis coach at Virginia.

Navarro would dedicate herself to pro tennis for two years. Then, she and UVA coach Sara O'Leary would reassess the decision and discuss options going forward.

The two-year milestone passed last June, and neither player nor coach even broached the subject. That's how evident it had become that Navarro, who grew up in Charleston and graduated from Ashley Hall, belonged on the WTA Tour.

"We didn't even acknowledge it or talk about it," Navarro told reporters Sunday after she proved it yet again by defeating defending U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff to advance to the Open quarterfinals. "So yeah, (I) definitely have surpassed my expectations, for sure.

"... I believe I can play tennis with the best players in the world, and I deserve to be on this stage. I belong in these rounds of Grand Slams and I can make deep runs."

The 23-year-old Navarro, seeded No. 13 at the Open, will face Spain's Paula Badosa in the quarters on Sept. 3 in Arthur Ashe Stadium. A victory there would put Navarro into the semifinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time in just her third U.S. Open and eighth Grand Slam.

Navarro's rapid rise from WTA Tour rookie to up-and-comer to Grand Slam contender has put the former Post and Courier All-Lowcountry player of the year firmly on the radar of tennis fans and media. Perhaps to her surprise, she's found herself comfortable there.

“I think I’m on the radar,” she said. “In my own head I’ll probably, always be under the radar just because I don’t give social media and that kind of stuff too much attention.

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

That comfort zone now extends to Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis venue in the world with more than 23,000 seats. She played there for the first time Sunday in her 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Gauff.

Born in New York City and with that experience, she'll likely have something of a homecourt advantage over the 26-year-old Badosa, who has never played in Ashe Stadium.

"I've been out on big courts before where I felt totally overwhelmed, almost like it's an out-of-body experience," Navarro said. "But I didn't feel that (Sunday). I felt comfortable from the time I stepped out on the court, which I was a little bit surprised about.

"I had kind of prepared myself for the worst in terms of feeling overwhelmed and nervous. But yeah, I felt pretty good."

Badosa, who was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world two years ago, has won four WTA Tour events to one for Navarro. Badosa is now ranked No. 29 as she comes back from injury, and defeated the 12th-ranked Navarro in their only previous meeting. That match was a three-setter on red clay in Rome earlier this year.

"I think it's definitely valuable to have played on Ashe once, and I hope to have the American fans behind me," she said. "But (Badosa) is a great player, big server, big ground strokes. It'll definitely be a challenge."

Elsewhere at the Open on Monday, Jessica Pegula reached the quarterfinals after a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider. Monday's win put Pegula in her seventh Grand Slam quarterfinal. Now comes the hard part: Pegula is 0-6 at that stage over her career.

The No. 6-seeded Pegula is on quite a run at the moment, having won 13 of her past 14 matches, all on hard courts. That included her second consecutive title in Canada and an appearance in the final at the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Also reaching the quarterfinals with a win Monday was Karolina Muchova. She defeated No. 5 Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3.