THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 1, 2025

Emma Navarro

Press Conference

E. NAVARRO/P. Kvitova

6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Give us your thoughts on your win today.

EMMA NAVARRO: Not easy playing a two-time champion in Petra. Yeah, I wanted to just enjoy it out there and, you know, try to allow her to enjoy it a little bit as well, but also, you know, it's a tennis match. You want to win.

So, yeah, I guess some unique emotions today, but I was proud of how I was able to sort of work through that and, yeah, kind of play some good tennis at times. I thought I returned well towards the end and served pretty good as well. So I'm happy with today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Did you find that to be a strange experience? Obviously you're aware of her circumstances here. It sounds like it was at least on your mind on court.

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, for sure. You know, I think she's been an incredible player and obviously, you know, won this tournament twice, and then had a kid and came back, which is definitely an inspiring story from her end.

Yeah, so definitely a unique matchup today. I kind of just wanted to do the best I could with managing that and take it point-by-point. Yeah, I think I did that well.

Q. What is your kind of overview of where you are right now in your game with what you've achieved and what your outlook is right now, right here?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, kind of same as always, I guess. I'm taking it day-by-day. Every day presents a new challenge.

I'm developing my game every day, and I feel like every day I make progress. You know, I'm constantly challenged with, you know, there are so many good players on tour and so much good tennis being played.

Yeah, I feel like I'm developing my game to be able to handle that in the most consistent way that I can. Yeah, I'm feeling good with where I'm at.

Q. There are always these terms... the hunter and the hunted. You used to be the hunter, and now you're one of the hunted. How does that change the mindset when you go into matches these days?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, it's definitely different. You know, sometimes I'll get out on the court and feel like people are, you know, swinging totally through their shots with nothing to lose.

It's definitely different, but I try to kind of do the same things that I always did. Expose their weaknesses and do the best I can at problem-solving is and being tough and resilient and, yeah, doing all the things.

It's maybe a little bit different playing a player that feels like they have nothing to lose, but the things that I do pretty much stay the same. Yeah, not much changes.

Q. I don't know what the right word is. You just tell me what you were feeling, but it's certainly the most emotion that I've seen you display on the court early in the first set. What were you telling yourself when you didn't get off to the great start? Were you having flashbacks to the French Open or anything like that?

EMMA NAVARRO: I don't know. I don't know what was shown, but I didn't feel too emotional. I think I was just giving myself, you know, a constant cue. I like to always have something that's within my control that I can achieve.

I think when I have a really specific focus, that's when I feel my best on court. Yeah, I think maybe I wasn't playing her in the smartest way, and she was really connecting with serves and returns there at the beginning.

I kind of switched up my tactics a little bit there in the third game and got some traction from that. Yeah, I felt calm and in control. So, yeah, it was good.

Q. Matt mentioned the first round, obviously at the French for you, and then today we saw Jess Pegula go out in the first round. What are we sort of mere mortals not understanding about what you guys face, especially the first round of a major? Is it maybe the slipperiest slope for any tennis player, no matter their rank?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, first rounds are really, really tough, especially as a seeded player. You have players that, like I was talking about, kind of have nothing to lose and feel like they're just going after everything. You know the consequences of losing first round of a Grand Slam. That can be overwhelming sometimes.

You know, it's also like you know your work is cut out for you. To be able to make a run in a Grand Slam, you have -- to win the tournament, you win seven matches against good players every round.

It can be easy to feel like there's a mountain ahead of you. The first challenge is maybe not technically or tennis-wise the hardest, but you know, it's your first match at a new venue. Even if you've played there the year before, things always feel different.

Yeah, you feel like there's a lot of work to be done, and you kind of have to get through this first challenge and then just keep working. Yeah, it's not always easy to get through that first challenge, so yeah.

Q. Overall what do you consider the biggest mental challenge for your mental health on the tour with the grind of the tour? What's your assessment of what the tour does to help players in terms of mental health?

EMMA NAVARRO: Probably losing so much is pretty tough to just keep your confidence and keep feeling like, you know, you belong here and if you keep putting in the work, you'll get the results that you want.

It's tough to continue to be positive, I guess, with yourself when you're losing most weeks and to just keep telling yourself to stick in there. You have yourself, that's probably for a lot of us ourselves, we're our biggest critic. Then you also have social media and people in the media trying to tear you down a lot of the time.

We have ourselves as our own critics, and then however many other people out there who are equally as critical. Yeah, I think that's a tough part of it.

I think there are resources in place to help players manage that. I personally haven't looked into those. Just felt like I haven't needed to, so I'm not exactly sure the details of that.

Q. When you see some of the younger women having big success and being under the spotlight, are you ever sort of thankful that you got this attention a little later, that it might be a little easier to deal with after you've had some life in you?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, for sure. I think it's really tough as a teenager to be exposed to that type of attention. It's a little bit scary because you're so impressionable at that age. You know, for me I feel like I kind of have built a bit of a hard shell around me. Like I kind of feel like there's not much that can get to me.

Thinking about my 17-year-old self, if I had to deal with the criticism and even attention, positive or negative, it's really tough at that age. Yeah, I cringe a little when I see younger kids, yeah, dealing with that much attention.