Mumbai: Last week, when Emma Navarro won her first match at this US Open, the usually impassive world No.12 American had a fleeting moment of reflection. “No.12 — it’s knocking on the door of the top 10. It’s pretty insane to think about.”

Pretty insane that next week, she will land in the top 10 after being ranked 149 at the start of last year. Pretty insane that not having won a main draw match at the US Open in the previous years, she is now a quarter-finalist. Pretty insane that in the New York-born’s first ever outing at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, she walked off after knocking out defending champion and world No.3 Coco Gauff 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the fourth round.

Amid the bunch of Americans making a splash on and off the court in their home Slam — Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Jessica Pegula — Navarro has silently stayed under the radar.

Not any longer. Certainly not after the kind of season the 23-year-old has had. Navarro has made back-to-back Slam quarter-finals after not going beyond the second round in any last year, grabbed her first WTA title and beaten three top 10 players (and a certain Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon). Two of them have come against Gauff, her younger compatriot and Paris Olympics team-mate whom Navarro also sent packing at the same stage at Wimbledon.

Gauff, who at 15 was pocketing Wimbledon wins and at 19 was the US Open champion, and Navarro, who till a couple of years ago was playing collegiate tennis, have had divergent career paths. For one, Navarro – her background is similar to Pegula – is the daughter of billionaire businessman Ben Navarro, the founder of one of the largest financial groups in the US whose net worth is an estimated $1.5 billion, as per Forbes. His Sherman Financial Group owns the Credit One Bank, which sponsors the Charleston Open, a WTA 500 clay-court event on the tour from which Navarro took home $11,190 as prize money this year after exiting in the Round of 16.

Navarro has put in the hard yards through her tennis journey. Raised in Charleston, the 2019 Wimbledon junior singles semi-finalist kicked off her collegiate career at the University of Virginia, winning her first of 14 NCAA singles matches. She became the 2021 NCAA singles champion, and until last year continued to grind along the ITF circuit.

When she left college to compete full time on the professional tour, she and her coach drew up a two-year contract to see where she could get to and take stock post that.

“I hit the two-year mark in June (this year), and we didn’t even acknowledge it or talk about it,” Navarro said after her win over Gauff.

“I definitely surpassed some expectations.”

Some, and more, in a standout season. Starting the year ranked 31 after putting together a bulk of tournaments and match wins in 2023, Navarro clinched her first WTA title in January in Hobart. She stunned No.2 Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells in March, before making the French Open Round of 16. Wimbledon, and her wins over Osaka and Gauff, underlined her leapfrogging development. Only world No.1 Iga Swiatek has more match victories on the tour this year than Navarro (45 coming into the US Open).

“I think I’m totally different, definitely as a player,” she said, comparing the Navarro of 2023 and 2024. “I play more aggressive. Every part of my game has improved. I just play with more confidence and more belief... Partially because the players I’m playing against, they’ll shut it down if I don’t make that more confident, aggressive choice. I think I have more belief in myself to be able to execute those types of shots.”

At 5-foot-7, Navarro’s on-court presence and game isn’t daunting, but is delightfully efficient. She has a smooth serve, covers every speck of space with her athletic on-court movement and can strike the ball with menace. Off both wings at that. Stationed at the baseline or at the net.

Gauff termed her an “all-court player”. She’s got firsthand experience of it, twice now. Gauff didn’t help herself on Sunday by serving 19 double faults, but Navarro did well to remain solid and continue to pepper her opponent’s feeble serves and faltering forehand returns even after a second-set blip.

Navarro also isn’t too animated on court, which again makes her stick out from most other US pros. She doesn’t chatter away to her coaching box between points, barely even making eye contact. She rarely emotes after winning or losing points, games and sets. “Kind of the opposite of how she is” outside the court, felt Gauff.

“There’s a ton of passion and emotion out there, which I don’t show,” Navarro said. “But I definitely feel it.”

She also feels like she belongs here now. Among the top drawer in the women’s game. Among the last eight standing in a Grand Slam.

“I believe I can play tennis with the best players in the world,” she said. “I deserve to be on this stage. I belong in these rounds of Grand Slams and I can make deep runs.”

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