ROLAND GARROS

June 3, 2024

Emma Navarro

Press Conference

A. SABALENKA/E. Navarro

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Emma, obviously a tough result, but one of your best Grand Slam performances ever. Can you give us your overall thoughts on your experience here at Roland Garros?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I've had a really great week and a half here in Paris. Obviously, a tough one today, but faced a really tough opponent, who was having a really good day out on the court

Definitely wasn't easy on me today, but I took it on how I wanted to and played some good tennis. Yeah, it's always a learning experience, always a good experience. Yeah, I'm moving forward in a better place than I was when I came into this week, so yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tough luck today. How did you find the experience of being on one of the big show courts at a Grand Slam finally?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I had obviously wanted a different result today, but I had a really great experience on center court. You know, I had the crowd cheering my name at a couple of different moments throughout the match, which is kind of a surreal feeling.

So, yeah, just feel really good about the experience, and it definitely makes me motivated to keep coming.

Q. What was the big difference, do you think, between your experience of playing her in Indian Wells versus here? Obviously, different surface, different country, all those different things, but in terms of the player you were facing and the player that you were today, what do you think about those two different matches?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I think she had a really great day today. I have to give her a lot of credit. She played really good tennis and didn't make hardly any mistakes.

So to be on the other end of that is tough because you feel like you can't afford to make mistakes, which is how I was feeling at a few different moments in the match.

I think today I wasn't able to return as well as I did last time, which was a big -- yeah, it was just, like, a big thing for me last time I played her. I feel like if I could have returned better today, it could have gotten me into the match a little bit sooner maybe.

But, yeah, I felt like I served better today than I did last time. She was just returning really well from really far inside the baseline. Yeah, definitely maybe a combination of me not returning as well as I wanted to and her playing pretty flawless tennis.

Q. Do you intend to come back here for the Olympics?

EMMA NAVARRO: I would love to. There's a lot of Americans doing really well right now, so we'll see what their plans are, but, yeah, I would love to play in the Olympics.

Q. I was going to ask you something else, but if I could follow up on that. What would it mean to you to be part of the Olympics, and is that something you've thought about in the past? I guess, why would it be an exciting moment for you?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, it would be a huge deal to me just to be able to play for my country, wear USA on the back of my shirt, and to be able to just play the sport that I love playing for the country that I'm from. I take a lot of pride in that, so it would be an incredible honor to be able to play in the Olympics.

I hadn't thought a ton about it until this year when I realized there was a possibility of me playing, but since then, it's definitely been something that I've thought about. I've tried not to think about it too much, not let it carry too much weight because there's a little bit of a race going on right now. But, yeah, it would be a huge honor to be able to play in the Olympics.

Q. You spoke about your return game today against her. Could you describe what it is about her serve that makes it as effective as it does? You're not the first opponent maybe to have a little bit of trouble on her serve, and I'm just wondering what it is about her serve that makes things tough.

EMMA NAVARRO: There's two parts to her serve. She has the pace, and then she has the spinny kick serve. I felt like she hit that really well today. She'll use it on her second serve, but also, more sore on the ad side on the first serve.

Positioning on that is tough because ideally I would like to take that farther inside the baseline than serve with more pace. So kind of just the combo of those two serves make it tough.

Yeah, she hit her kick serve, second serves really well today. Yeah, just wasn't able to return well enough against that.

Q. Grass season next for you. How do you feel about that surface, and what are your expectations for the tournaments?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, last year was my first grass season, and I had a lot of fun on grass. I actually played some better tennis than I thought I would be able to play on grass. So excited to get back on it and play some good tennis again.

Q. If you are back here in a little bit of time for the Olympics, there is a bit of an unusual thing there with going now from clay to grass, but then returning to the clay. Do you think that will be a challenge at all, and if so, what would be the toughest part of switching surfaces like that quickly?

EMMA NAVARRO: Maybe a little bit of a challenge, but I would say nothing I'm not used to. Playing on the ITF circuit as much as I did last year, you're always switching back and fort between surfaces. There's no real seasons.

Also, I always feel at home coming back on a clay court. Yeah, a little bit challenging, but nothing crazy.

Q. You've had a real breakthrough year in 2024, and this is your best Grand Slam showing so far in your early career. What do you find to be the greatest difference between weekly regular WTA tournaments and playing in a Grand Slam tournament?

EMMA NAVARRO: Maybe I didn't know this until today. I had to learn this today, but the best players in the world on a stage like that in a tournament like this, they are not messing around.

Maybe she just had a great day today, but I really felt like she was coming after me. Maybe it was a different type of challenge than I faced when I played her last time. Yeah, I think the best players in the world, they're able to step up in these big moments and, yeah, deliver.

Q. I think you're doing better in most tournaments that you're playing this year than you did last year. It seems like you're developing along on a sort of pretty nice curve. Where do you feel like you are in terms of your development? Do you feel like you're still new to all of this and you're sort of taking it all in as a sponge, or is there a percentage that you can put on yourself on how much of the full version of Emma Navarro that you are?

EMMA NAVARRO: I don't know if there's a percentage I can put it on, but my coach talks about six years is when I'm at 100%. So we'll see if I can beat that timeline. I would like to beat that timeline.

But, yeah, definitely I learn a lot as I go, and I learn through experiences, so just the more experiences I'm able to have, the more comfortable I feel in just different moments on court and on different stages.

Yeah, I would say I'm maybe still a little bit in sponge mode, but my sponge is filling up and maybe growing too. So, yeah, we'll see.

Q. Six years from last year or six years from now?

EMMA NAVARRO: That's actually a good question. I'll have to clarify that with him (laughing).