Emma Navarro eyes another step up against Coco Gauff at Wimbledon

Climbing the ladder to top-level professional tennis isn't supposed to be as easy as Emma Navarro has made it look over the last 18 months. The former NCAA champion hasn't skipped steps in her steady ascent on the WTA tour, and on Sunday at Wimbledon, she'll hope to level up once more when she faces No.2 seed Coco Gauff with a spot in the quarterfinals up for grabs.

To advance to face Gauff, though, Navarro first needed to overcome a stubborn hurdle: After toppling four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka comprehensively in her Centre Court debut two days prior, the No. 19 seed stared down a one-set deficit Friday on Court 18 against the in-form Diana Shnaider, who came into the match on an eight-match winning streak and with a 10-1 record on grass this summer.

But after one hour and 56 minutes, Navarro walked off court a winner (having hit one more winner than the big-hitting Russian in total), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The comeback was also an example of Navarro's ability to problem-solve—something that's become a bit of a trademark in her rise. This year, Navarro was 0-2 against Shnaider, a surging 20-year-old who also played college tennis (for a season at North Carolina State University last year). One of those losses came just seven days ago, in the semifinals of Bad Homburg, a WTA 500 tournament that the left-hander went on to win.

"It was just a matter of can I execute or not, and I was able to for a good bit of the match," Navarro said after her 15th three-set win of the season.

Her upcoming match against Gauff represents another seminal moment. Though Navarro beat Aryna Sabalenka on hard courts in Indian Wells in March when Sabalenka was also ranked No. 2, the stakes are no doubt higher in this all-American affair as Navarro seeks a first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal berth in just her seventh major main draw.

The achievement would be at home on the resume of players who've been far more highly touted, but Navarro is the opposite: Hard work has been paramount in helping her build trust, in herself and the process, that's gotten her to this point.

"Then just the more you put yourself in those moments, you learn little cues, mental or physical cues, that can help you," she said. "I think that just comes with experience and being tuned in with how I respond to certain cues."

Gauff, too, is seeking a Wimbledon milestone. The grass-court Grand Slam tournament is the only one in which she has yet to reach the quarterfinals, and despite having beaten Navarro 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Auckland in January that she went on to win, Gauff is not underestimating the challenge Navarro poses.

The 20-year-old has only lost once to a fellow American not named Jessica Pegula in the last 12 months (to Madison Keys in Madrid), but has known Navarro, who's three years older, since childhood. (Her father Corey made her play in more advanced USTA age brackets in her junior days.)

"Just growing up with her, I always knew she was very talented and knew her game would translate well on tour," Gauff said, dismissing those who think Navarro's place in the Top 20 has come as a "surprise."

"I think she has a very all-court game. Playing her is going to be a tough match. She's had some good wins this tournament. I don't expect it to be easy."

Navarro, too, says that win in New Zealand doesn't mean much. After all, wouldn't a Wimbledon quarterfinal be the next logical step in a year that's already a third-round effort in Melbourne, and a fourth-round showing in Paris?

"I think when I played her at the beginning of the year, I wasn't necessarily ready for that challenge," Navarro said. "We practiced a couple of times this year. They've gone differently than the match went at the beginning of the year.

"I know I have the level inside of me that can beat a player like her. It's maybe just a matter of doing it on a bigger stage."