US OPEN

September 1, 2024

Emma Navarro

Press Conference

E. NAVARRO/C. Gauff

6-3, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Emma, if you would, your thoughts on today's match?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I think I played good tennis. I played really tough tennis. It wasn't easy.

I think, you know, both of us faced our own struggles at times. I think it was a little bit of a battle of will there for a bit. But yeah, proud of just my effort today.

I was able to stick in there through some tough moments. Wasn't able to close out the second set, which was tough, but yeah, I was able to reset and come back out and meet a really similar moment in the third set a little bit better.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You are known to not share a lot of your emotions on the court, to show your emotion on court. Was it more intense at the end of the match?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, a little bit. I think there's a different energy playing on Ashe, playing someone like Coco. You know, there was a ton of energy and passion and emotion out there, which, you know, I don't show, but I definitely feel it.

Yeah, it wasn't easy today. Like I said, I wasn't able to close it out in two sets. So, you know, just really wanted to take that moment on in the third set just really aggressively and confidently.

I kind of put it out on the line. Yeah, definitely some more emotion there in the third.

Q. What was it like playing your first match on Ashe? Did you warm up there? What was your sense coming out of there? What were your impressions of the court? Because you're going to be playing more matches there now.

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, it was pretty crazy. I was just talking to my team about it. You know, I've been out on big courts before where I just felt totally overwhelmed and almost like it's an out-of-body experience, but I didn't feel like that today.

I felt comfortable from the time I stepped out on to the court, which I was a little bit surprised about. I kind of had prepared myself for the worst just in terms of feeling overwhelmed and nervous.

But, yeah, I felt pretty good. I didn't warm up on the court. The guys started at 12:00 before me, so I chose to warm up a little bit later on the practice courts. Yeah, it's a pretty crazy court. The energy in New York is unmatched.

Yeah, just really amazing experience.

Q. Last year you played an absurd number of matches, crazy schedule across levels. This year too a pretty full schedule. I think today was like your almost 30th three-set match of the season. That's a lot of tennis. How do you define match toughness, and what was the key to kind of getting you to that whatever is your definition of kind of being match-tough?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I think it's easy to be tough when you're playing great tennis and everything's working well, and you're hitting all your shots well and things are just going smooth, but I think toughness is when you can continue to go after your shots and play aggressive tennis when some doubt creeps in and when you're not 100% sure about just certain shots or how you're playing.

I think it's the ability to not get discouraged by things not going your way or by you making mistakes. You know, you're just kind of just unfazed by the things that are happening out there, and just the ability to keep coming point after point, game after game and never hitting that limit of, you know, I've missed X amount of this specific shot and I just can't take it anymore.

Just not letting that happen.

Q. You may have just answered this, but you mentioned on court your past US Open record. I'm curious, what would you say is the biggest difference between that Emma Navarro and this Emma Navarro?

EMMA NAVARRO: I think I'm totally different definitely as a player. I think I play just more aggressive. Like every part of my game has improved.

And, also, I think that, yeah, I just play with more confidence and more belief. I think in the past I've seen choices on court, like taking the ball on the rise or moving forward to hit a forehand as opposed to moving back, stuff like that.

Those have been choices in the past. Now I see those types of situations as less of a choice and more of, like, I have to take this on in this way. Partially because the players I'm playing against, you know, they'll shut it down if I don't make that more confident, aggressive choice. And, also, just because I think I have more belief in myself to be able to actually execute those types of shots.

Then, just the mental side of it. I think I believe that I can play tennis with the best players in the world. I deserve to be on this stage and, yeah, I belong in these rounds of Grand Slams and, yeah, I can make deep runs.

Q. I'm curious when you first left college and turned pro, how did you kind of imagine the first few years of your professional career might go, and how does this year, you've obviously risen so quickly, how does it compare to that?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, definitely surpassed some expectations for sure. When I first left college, my coach and I kind of made like a two-year contract that I would fully commit myself to playing professional tennis for two years and then kind of just reassess after that.

I think I hit the two-year mark this June, and we didn't even acknowledge it or talk about it (laughing). So, yeah, definitely have surpassed my expectations for sure. Yeah, I hope to just keep getting better.

Q. Coco just mentioned that off the court you are funny, and Lindsay Davenport also mentioned the same thing on the broadcast. Even though you're very reserved on the court, I'm wondering where did you get your humor, whether it's parents, University of Virginia, and how does that help as you go about matches? Is there any stand-out or moment where you really made someone laugh and you remembered that?

EMMA NAVARRO: (Laughing.) My dad is really funny, and he has seven siblings. He grew up in a family, there was eight of them. They have really cool banter with each other, that's pretty funny. I think I get my humor from him.

Yeah, I think, you know, it's important to not take yourself too seriously and not take things too seriously. I always like to kind of see the funny side of things. It helps me to be light-hearted.

Obviously I care a ton about this sport and about what I'm doing, but, you know, I think nothing is worth being too serious about that you can't laugh at yourself or laugh at or with the people around you. Yeah, that's a big part of my personality and life, I guess.

Q. You mentioned the energy out there. I mean, obviously you were a baby when you left here in New York, but just, A, how much did you enjoy feeding on that energy, and now that you're in the quarters, are you starting to feel at all more like a native New Yorker?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, a little bit. I will probably always call Charleston home, but I definitely feel ties to this city. My parents lived here for 20 years, and it feels a little bit like home coming back here. I spent a good amount of time here growing up.

Coming back and being able to play on a court like Ashe and feel the roar of the crowd was pretty incredible. There were a couple of times where it got really loud in there. I was a little bit taken aback by just the noise in there.

It was amazing. I'm super excited to hopefully play on it again.

Q. You have Paula Badosa next. How do you look ahead to that challenge? She's never played on Ashe before. Are you happy that at least you have that experience under your belt? How do you see this matchup for you?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, I think she's made a really cool comeback from injury. We played each other in Rome earlier this year on clay. She beat me there. But yeah, I think it's definitely valuable to have played on Ashe once.

I hope to have the American fans behind me. Yeah, she's a great player, big server, big groundstroke. It will definitely be a challenge, but I'm excited for it.

Q. When did you first believe that you belonged and could even win a tournament like this, and how does it feel now to have that belief?

EMMA NAVARRO: I don't know when. I can't really put a moment on it, but, you know, it's pretty insane just to talk about winning a Grand Slam or winning a tournament like the US Open.

A few months ago even I wouldn't have said that. So, yeah, it's pretty crazy to be sitting here now and have the quarterfinals ahead of me and feel like I'm playing good enough to keep it going.