In a country where the king dollar can buy everything, Emma Navarro is keen to emphasise that more than her family’s fortune, her rise to the highest level, up to the semi-final at the US Open that she will play on Thursday, is mainly due to her talent and her work.
Until recently, the Navarros were best known as businessman Ben, CEO and founder of Sherman Financial Group, owner of Credit One Bank and the Charleston Tennis Tournament.
But since the start of the season, her daughter Emma has made a name for herself on the tennis courts and the whole country is cheering her exploits at Flushing Meadows where she will face world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in an attempt to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the age of 23.
In the audience, Ben is Emma’s first supporter who did not fail to thank him warmly after his qualification for the last four, already his best result in Major. While she had never passed two rounds in Grand Slam, this year she reached the third round in Australia, the eighth finals at Roland-Garros and the quarters at Wimbledon: a linear progression that she hopes will be exponential at home.
But his thanks for his father don’t go to his bank account.
– “Tons of hours” –
“Of course, as a child I had access to certain resources. But I don’t want that to hide the fact that I worked very, very hard to get to this point. I put in tons of hours, since I was nine years old I’ve been working out twice a day and doing weight training,” she insists.
On the other hand, she happily acknowledges the immense moral support of her family and her father in particular.
“My father has always been my number one supporter. He taught my two brothers, my sister and me many important lessons, for tennis and in life,” says the player who was still 57th in the world a year ago and who will be in the Top 10 on Monday after the US Open.
In particular, Ben always encouraged her to try her luck in tennis, but insisted that she continue her studies. So much so that Emma went through the American university tennis system instead of arriving directly at a young age and without any background on the circuit.
One of the main lessons taught by Ben is the importance of work, he who, coming from a family of eight children without great resources, started by doing odd jobs, from childhood, and worked hard all his life until amassing a fortune estimated in July 2024 at 1.5 billion dollars by Forbes magazine.
– Good taste –
Far from the bling bling people typical of Flushing Meadows, Emma Navarro likes the good taste of simplicity, like her sober and classy outfit in perfect contrast with the colorful and sometimes crazy outfits seen on some of her colleagues, whether they are working or not.
Because the young woman born in New York but raised in Charleston is of a reserved nature and likes sobriety.
She herself is surprised by the serenity with which she experiences her journey in Flushing Meadows.
“It’s crazy that I’m able to walk out on Arthur Ashe Court and feel comfortable because it’s really not my nature to be in the spotlight and have so many people’s attention,” she said.
However, Emma has character and does not let people walk all over her. After her defeat in the 8th finals at the Paris Olympics against Qinwen Zheng, future gold medalist, Navarro had a discussion at the net with the Chinese.
“I told her that I didn’t respect her as a competitor,” she explained in Paris.
As she reaps the benefits of “a slow and methodical approach to tennis and (her) progression”, Emma Navarro is in turn aiming for a final, or even a title, at the US Open, a year after the triumph of her compatriot with a more meteoric career, Coco Gauff.
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