Tennis in his blood, clay in his shoes: How Emilio Nava slid into 19-match win streak

With his current form on the ATP Challenger Tour, it seems Nava is confident he can beat just about anyone but his brothers. Over the past five weeks, Nava racked up a 19-match winning streak by winning three Challenger titles (in Paraguay, Chile, and Sarasota, Fla.) and reaching a fourth final last week in Tallahassee, Fla. Seventeen of those 19 victories came in straight sets.

Nava's runs in Sarasota and Tallahassee have put him in pole position in the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, which offers a French Open main-draw wild card to the American man and woman who earns the most ranking points at a maximum of three clay-court tournaments during a five-week window from March 31 to May 4.

Learn more about the USTA's Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge.

The torrid clay-court run is reward for a preseason training block on the South American clay. Stepping outside of his comfort zone, Nava traveled south with new coach Diego Cristin, who hails from Argentina.

"I usually train pretty hard when I'm not that comfortable. So I felt like this was a great opportunity to maybe make a little change and see where it goes," said Nava, who began working with Cristin in December.

In his short time with Cristin, Nava has focused on his movement and footwork along with a small change to his forehand technique. But the biggest factor in his recent success has been his mentality on the court.

Cristin and Nava point to two key moments that sparked his winning run. The coach recalls a second-round loss at a March Challenger in Argentina, when Nava was beaten by an opponent ranked outside the Top 400.

"We had a very good conversation after that. Everything changed because he started to understand what he needs to do in the court," Cristin recalled. "Everything changed from that moment when he understood that it's not a tennis problem; it's a mindset problem. So it's about understanding the game, what he needs to do at certain moments when you have pressure, when you have a ball that you need to just put inside of the court, not overpower. I think that we got those titles because of the mindset. The tennis was always there... Now he has the right mindset."

Nava highlighted his consecutive comeback wins in Paraguay two weeks later. In the second and third rounds, he battled back to beat former Top 100 players Juan Pablo Varillas and Tomas Barrios Vera.

"I think that's where it kind of just slowly started coming together. I was fighting, even though I was down, and I was just staying calm," said Nava, who won 35 consecutive sets starting with his comeback against Barrios Vera.

After a three-set defeat to Luxembourg's Chris Rodesch in Sunday's Tallahassee final, Nava will this week bid to start a new winning run in Savannah, Ga. Now eight places off his career-high ATP ranking of No. 124 from this time last year, Nava is quickly trending toward a Top 100 debut. But first, he hopes to seal his place at Roland Garros via the USTA's Challenge.

"It's a great goal to have, but if it consumes you, then it's not healthy," he said. 

Nava has twice competed in a Grand Slam main draw. He made his major debut as a wild card at the 2022 US Open, where he beat John Millman in five sets before losing to Andy Murray in four. As a qualifier at Roland Garros in 2023, he lost to Roberto Carballes Baena.

"That year was unreal. It was my first time I ever qualified for a Grand Slam and it's definitely got a special place in my heart," Nava said of his 2023 Paris run. "I'd love to get back there and hopefully go directly."