Emma Navarro: Grand Slam semifinalist and top-10 star (2024)

Few players have enjoyed such steady, impressive progression this early in their Grand Slam career as Emma Navarro.

The 23-year-old American, who came through the US college pathway, had played in the main draw at just four majors before embarking on her transformative 2024 season.

And now, having never previously won a match at the US Open, she is a semifinalist at her home Slam – a result ensuring she will crack the WTA top 10 on Monday.

It’s a monumental achievement for a player who this time last year was the world No.57, and less than 18 months ago was well outside the top 100.

“I think I've gone through periods of time where I'm surprised at where I'm at, but also when I look back and think about the methodical approach to tennis that I've taken… when I look at my physical ability and my mental ability in this sport, it's not surprising,” said Navarro, a 6-2 7-5 winner over Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals.

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“Right now I think I'm ready to be in this position and I think that's probably a result of just this sort of slow, gradual methodical approach I have taken to tennis and improving myself.”

This intentional approach to progress has defined Navarro’s overall rise and Grand Slam results this season, and is what positioned her for these performances in the first place.

Navarro arrived at Australian Open 2024 as a Grand Slam seed for the first time, an unusual situation given it was her tournament debut and she had not played at Melbourne Park since her junior days in 2019.

A year earlier, she decided not to travel to Australia to play in the qualifying draw; instead, she remained in the United States and played on the ITF circuit, accruing match wins.

While she successfully transitioned to tour-level later in 2023, Navarro continued to compete regularly at ITF and WTA 125K events. She scored over 60 match wins that year and hit the top 40, banking invaluable confidence, momentum and match toughness.

And on the eve of the Australian Open, she recorded another milestone, breaking through for her first WTA title in Hobart.

She went on to reach the third round at AO 2024, a result she bettered at Roland Garros by advancing to the last 16 at a major for the first time.

Things got even better at Wimbledon, where she upstaged Naomi Osaka and later stunned No.2 seed Coco Gauff – both wins on Centre Court – to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Esteemed Australian coach Darren Cahill declared on ESPN: "She is a delight to watch … She is my new favourite female player."

Returning to North American hard courts, Navarro notched semifinals in Toronto and Monterrey, performances maintaining her momentum entering the year’s final Slam, and boosting her to a career-high ranking of 12th.

In New York, she followed her 2024 Grand Slam pattern of improving by one round each time.

She beat Badosa from 5-1 down in the second set to achieve a first major semifinal, after again beating Gauff, ending the reigning champion’s title defence a round earlier.

Considering our chat with Navarro in January, and her admission she didn’t feel ready, mentally or physically, to even contest AO 2023 qualifying, her progress has been nothing short of staggering.

She’s one match away from a Grand Slam final, and increasingly assured in the position she finds herself.

“It's crazy that I'm able to walk out on Ashe and feel comfortable, because it's definitely not my nature to want to be in the spotlight and seek the attention of a lot of people,” said Navarro, who next plays either Aryna Sabalenka or Zheng Qinwen.

“I think I was a little bit overwhelmed maybe at Indian Wells playing on centre court. But I think it was so important for me to have those experiences at that stage to be able to come out on a day like today and feel comfortable on probably the biggest stage in tennis.

“Now to look back and remember who's played [at Arthur Ashe Stadium] before, having Serena here the other day, it's pretty insane that all the legends of our sport have played on that court, just walked up to the same baseline that I'm walking up to to serve. Yeah, it's crazy.

“I definitely feel just very grateful to be taking that stage and be playing the tennis that I'm playing and having another opportunity to do so in a couple days.”