Emma Navarro caps Aryna Sabalenka upset with “third fist pump ever” at BNP Paribas Open

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—As the last shot off Aryna Sabalenka’s racquet went long, Emma Navarro decided a little celebration was in order—emphasis on “little.”

“I think maybe that was my second or third fist pump ever,” Navarro joked after clinching a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over the reigning Australian Open champion. “If it was a little weird, cut me some slack!”

The No. 23 seed, in fact, has plenty to celebrate at the BNP Paribas Open: not only is she into her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal, she currently leads the Hologic WTA Tour in match wins, her win over Sabalenka her 18th in 10 weeks.

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Navarro is no stranger to winning. She went 64-24 in 2023—though largely at smaller tournaments—setting the stage for a WTA breakthrough at the Hobart International, where she won her first title to crack the Top 30. A year ago, she was ranked outside the Top 100.“I just want to play good tennis, and just keep getting better,” she said in her post-match press conference.

“I think there has been a couple of times since I've been on tour that I've lost that mindset, where it's, like, I was close to breaking Top 100, and I was, like, ‘Okay, if I can just get top 100, then I'll be happy.’

“Once I kind of made these milestones, I was like, ‘Okay, that's cool that I did that but what's next? A ranking, it's just a number.’”

The numbers keep tilting in Navarro’s favor: the 2021 NCAA Champion played a clean match against Sabalenka, striking 22 winners to only 14 unforced errors while drawing 38 mistakes from her more illustrious opponent.

“I mean, she's already in top,” Sabalenka said after the match. “No doubt she's going to be in top for a while.

“She just played different rhythm, more spin. Forehand, really great forehand. Overall, I would say she's moving well and playing some different rhythms so you always have to adjust…I wasn't moving that great today, and that's why she forced me for all those unforced errors.

“But yeah, her potential is really great. I think she have this potential to be in Top 10.”

Quite a forecast for the daughter of Sherman Financial Group founder Ben Navarro, who bought the Western & Southern Open—now the Cincinnati Open—and helped fund the renovation of the Credit One Charleston Open’s Stadium Court.

Navarro wore a Credit One hat to her post-match press conference, speaking fondly of her close family ties—particularly to her 92-year-old grandmother.

“I said the other day that she hasn't missed a match, and she really hasn't,” Navarro exclaimed. “Even when I was in Australia, she would be up at 4 a.m. watching me play. It's really cool to just have someone like that in my corner, and she texts me after every single match, win or lose. If I win, it's some congratulatory text, and if I don't, it's, you know, just telling me, on to the next.

“She always signs her text, Love Gram, as if I don't know where it's coming from. I get a good kick out of that.”

Navarro should expect an extra special text as she awaits the winner of the fourth-round match between 2022 finalist Maria Sakkari and Diane Parry. Maybe in the meantime, she can continue perfecting her fist pump.