NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 11, 2024

Emma Navarro

Press Conference

A. ANISIMOVA/E. Navarro

6-3, 2-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Hard luck today, Emma. What made Amanda such a tricky opponent today?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, she played really well. It was tough out there again today, super windy, struggled on my serve a little bit just with the wind. I had some good moments with it and some not so good moments with it, as did she.

Yeah, I think, in the end, she handled the conditions probably better than I did, and, yeah, she hits a really big, flat ball, and it's definitely tough to handle.

THE MODERATOR: First question?

Q. For the layperson, the wind conditions, it's been the story all week, can you paint a picture of how difficult it is?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, it's tough because it's not just consistent wind in one direction, it's kind of swirling around and it comes in gusts, which makes it pretty tough, just because you could start a point and the wind's going in one direction, and by the end of the point it's going in a different direction.

Yeah, it's definitely not easy and, you know, especially in bigger moments when you have to hit a second serve and you feel the gust of wind, it's a little bit off-putting.

Q. This is your first 1000 semi-final. How do you think you can push forward from this, and how you sort of handled the moment and the week as a whole?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I think I definitely made good strides this week. I played a lot of good tennis, and today was definitely tough, but I've played her in the past and kind of got it handed to me, so definitely made progress today.

You know, I thought at one point for sure I had it in the bag, but, yeah, wasn't able to get across the finish line, but definitely feel good about how I'm playing, and I'm excited to keep playing on the hard courts.

Q. You traded the first two sets today in terms of who was controlling things, at the start of the third a couple of lengthy games, what separated things in that final set for you today?

EMMA NAVARRO: I wasn't able to hold serve. I think it was the third game I was up 40-Love, and ended up getting broken, which was, yeah, that was a really tough game to lose.

I felt like I just wasn't able to serve well enough. I think I had a game point, I double faulted on a game point. Credit to her, she hit a lot of really good returns, even when I did hit good serves, and that definitely put some pressure on me, for sure. Yeah, I think there were a couple close games where she just played a little bit better than I did.

Q. What does a result like this, making the semis of such a big tournament, do for you moving forward this year? Does it adjust your goals at all, are you looking for top 10, are you thinking of WTA Finals potentially, does this give you that boost of confidence to think about those kind of things?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, for sure. It's pretty crazy that being top 10 could be on the horizon for me, it's definitely exciting and motivating, for sure.

Then, yeah, of course, I haven't really thought too far ahead, but, yeah, WTA Finals would be an amazing opportunity, so for sure a little bit of a boost of confidence, just knowing that I can play at this level.

Q. They have been close matchups, especially with a fellow American, someone you probably have got to know over the years, is it easy to find motivation in that?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, for sure. I think it's really cool what the Americans are doing in tennis right now. It's nice to face a fellow American in the semis. Obviously, you know, not easy, because I want to win, but, you know, I'm always cheering on the Americans, so it was cool to see so many doing so well in this tournament especially.

Yeah, tough not to get the win today, but I'll be cheering on, hopefully, well, maybe two Americans in the final.

Q. Can you talk about how you like to manage that pressure of playing such an important match, and maybe just some of the mental strategies that you used this week in Toronto?

EMMA NAVARRO: Sorry, can you say the first part again.

Q. How was it like to manage the pressure of playing such an important match?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I felt like I did a good job managing that pressure. She came out playing really aggressive and coming at me with, yeah, big ground strokes, and maybe I got pushed back there a little bit at the beginning. I settled in a little bit, I guess, and, you know, I guess managing pressure is kind of the name of the game, just the more opportunities you have to improve yourself in that aspect the better you get at it.

I think it's really important just to stay super present and take it one point at a time, and that's what I tried to do, so, yeah, I feel good about how I did that.

Q. Can you share a couple words about your opponent today, close in age, both American, Amanda burst onto the scene pretty early in her career and has gone through some challenges, what kind of potential do you think she has when she's back playing tennis like that?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I think a ton. She's a big server, hard hitter, I think she's incredibly talented, and when she's hitting her spots she's really, really tough to beat. She can take any ball that her opponent hits and rip to either corner, which is obviously a really valuable skill that she has. Yeah, I think she has a ton of potential to continue having success.