Emma Navarro Advances at Wimbledon after Defeating Barbora Krejcikova
American tennis player Emma Navarro, one of the four seeded players within the top 10 remaining in the women’s draw, achieved an epic comeback to eliminate the reigning Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejcikova, with scores of 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round on Saturday. Navarro, with this victory, ensures that the grass tournament will have a new champion for the first time.Krejcikova showed signs of exhaustion in the third set, needing her blood pressure checked during the side change after Navarro broke her serve to go 3-2 up on court number 1. Krejcikova consumed a banana and drank fluids during the medical timeout, while Navarro went to her box and spoke with her coach during the break. Upon the resumption of play, Krejcikova showed clear signs of discomfort, frequently bending over and resting her hands on her knees between points.“I am proud to be tough and fight to the last point, no matter the circumstances. I always try to do that,” declared Navarro, who was born in New York, grew up in South Carolina, and won the NCAA championship in 2021 for the University of Virginia. “I could never live with myself if I gave up. It’s just not in my nature. I also don’t think it’s in the nature of any of my family members to ever give up. I guess we’re a stubborn bunch.”
Emma Navarro
“Actually, I was feeling worse and worse,” commented Krejcikova, who, despite being the number 17 seed, will fall outside the top 70 of the WTA ranking. “It’s very sad for me and very unfortunate.”
Barbora Krejcikova
This is not Navarro’s first major victory on a significant stage. Last year, she eliminated Coco Gauff at Wimbledon to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Then, in a rematch a few months later, Navarro won again at the US Open, where Gauff was the 2023 champion, on her way to her debut in a Slam semifinal.
Navarro, 24 years old, will play her fifth appearance in the round of 16 in the last six major tournaments, tied with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff for the most during that period. She will face Mirra Andreeva, an 18-year-old Russian, on Monday for a place in the quarterfinals. Against Krejcikova, Navarro lost a set and a break in the second before turning the match around. “I regrouped a bit, tried to slow things down on my end and make her see different shots,” Navarro said. “I tried to make her feel as uncomfortable as possible.” Most of the points were decided by what Krejcikova did. That’s how she ended up with 34 winners, 21 more than Navarro, and 53 unforced errors. Surprisingly, Navarro finished with only 11 unforced errors.Last year’s victory was the second in a major tournament for Krejcikova, who also won the 2021 French Open.“My slice is working pretty well. I can use that to my advantage,” Navarro commented. “I played with grit at times. I played hard. I also connected some good groundstrokes. I feel very good about my performance.”
Emma Navarro
