Emma Navarro leaves New York brimming with confidence and Grand Slam winning mentality despite US Open loss

Emma Navarro may have lost against Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals of the 2024 US Open. But in reality, it proved to be a real success for the American ace who went from grinding out small time tournaments last year to becoming a real force this year.

Whilst it was a 6-3 7-6(2) win for Sabalenka, it was a lot closer than the scoreline showed and will be one that lives long in the memory for Navarro.

From playing ITF tournaments mainly, she found her way into the top 10 within a year through hard work while also battling the billionaire tag that Jessica Pegula has also. Winning one match was seen ideally as a success but she has done a lot more.

"Winning a Grand Slam is something that even just a few months ago was not really on my radar," Navarro told reporters.

"So to now be in a position where I'm thinking about and working towards winning Grand Slams is exciting. It's motivating. It's pretty crazy and I think it's a testament to a lot of hard work," she said. Definitely leaving with a lot of positives."

But it is also a story of what if. Navarro admitted that she could've done better at the end of the match and that it was a learning curve for her as a result.

"I wasn't ready for the match to be over there at 5-3," she said. "I really wanted to stick in there and keep playing. The crowd got into it, which was awesome.

"It was maybe a little bit of a learning curve out there, feeling like, okay, I can win this, I'm in this.

"I'm obviously playing a great opponent, but I can push back against her serve and I can get ahead in points and play the aggressive game."