Emma Navarro's 2024 US Open semifinal mindset: 'Go after it'

At the time, Navarro kept the loss in perspective. After all, that fortnight, she’d defeated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, Diana Shnaider, and Gauff to score her best-ever result at a major.

“I played the best tennis I've ever played in my life this tournament,” she said then. “It's really exciting to know I have that level inside of me. I know I'll keep improving on it. I know this isn't the last time I'm going to be in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. I know I'll be back. Just obviously disappointed today, but big picture-wise, really excited to keep improving.”

On Tuesday at the 2024 US Open, she was, in fact, back. In her second-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance—which she earned once again upsetting world No. 3 Gauff in the Round of 16—Navarro broke her opponent Paula Badosa twice in the first set, then erased a 1-5 deficit in the second—capturing 24 of the last 29 points—to storm into her first-ever Grand Slam semifinal.

Navarro’s openness and willingness to quickly learn and grow from new experiences is ultimately what has catapulted the former University of Virginia standout up the rankings over the last two years. Ranked just inside the world’s Top 150 at the beginning of 2023, she’s now set to make her Top 10 debut once the tournament ends.

She’ll be the first to tell you that rise didn’t happen overnight. For much of 2023 she was still playing lower-level ITF events in places like Vero Beach, Florida, and Tyler, Texas. The losses and wins she took at those tournaments—and what she gleaned from those results—ultimately helped prepare her for the bigger stages on which she competes today. 

“I think I've gone through periods of time where I'm surprised at where I'm at,” she said.