Emma Navarro’s meticulous preparation and clean play were key in her decisive victory over Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Navarro committed only five unforced errors against 16 winners, faced no break points, and achieved a perfect 4-for-4 success rate at the net.
This victory secured Navarro a spot in the third round at the All England Club for the first time, as she defeated Osaka, a four-time major champion and former No. 1, with a 6-4, 6-1 win in under an hour at Centre Court. Navarro credits her mental preparations, which include writing reminders in her cellphone’s notes app before each match.
“That’s an atmosphere that could easily overwhelm me, or overwhelm any player, and I spent just a good amount of time preparing myself mentally for the emotions and the nerves I was going to feel. Then once I got out there, I just felt really at home,” said Navarro, who won the 2021 NCAA singles title for the University of Virginia and is seeded 19th at Wimbledon.
“In the notes, I told myself to make the court my home and never be afraid to stay out there for as long as it takes,” Navarro said. “I was able to do that today and it’s pretty cool to come out on the other end of an experience when you’re not sure how it’s going to go.”
Osaka has historically struggled on grass or clay courts, with all her Grand Slam victories coming on hard courts at the U.S. Open and Australian Open. Her win on Monday was her first at Wimbledon since 2018, having last competed there in 2019.
“Even though in the beginning, it was kind of like we were trading games, I don’t know why, (but) I didn’t feel fully confident in myself. I didn’t feel like I was playing that well,” said Osaka, who returned to the tour in January after taking 15 months off and becoming a mother. “I guess those doubts started trickling in a lot (and) into my game.”
Navarro, who grew up in South Carolina, has been climbing the rankings rapidly. She went from No. 143 at the end of 2022 to No. 38 at the end of last year, and now stands at No. 17.
While she didn’t advance past the second round in her first four Grand Slam appearances, she reached the third round at the Australian Open and the fourth round at the French Open this year. She aims to continue this progress with a win on Friday against Diana Shnaider, a 20-year-old from Russia who played college tennis at North Carolina State.
Navarro plans to continue her practice of writing mental cues before each match.
“I’ll write just some bullet points. There are some things that stay constant, that I always write. And then there are other things that are specific to a certain day or a certain match,” she said. “It’s always mental cues, not so much tactical.”
This habit began in 2019 after a disappointing straight-set loss at a junior event in Milan, Italy, just before the French Open juniors. Navarro spent 1 1/2 hours discussing the match with her coach, determined not to feel unprepared mentally again.
Going into the French Open that year, Navarro made it to the junior final, defeating Zheng Qinwen along the way before losing to Leylah Fernandez.
Navarro is now making significant strides in major tournaments.
“A lot of years in the making,” she said.
