Entering Strasbourg, Emma Navarro had won five matches all year. This week, she doubled that number.
Claiming her first title in over a year, Navarro got back to winning ways as she came through close matches against quality players, a boost to her ranking, level, and confidence ahead of the second major of the year. On paper, this is the best title run of Navarro’s career, and with the context of the season it means so much more.
Emma Navarro sets the stage for Paris run
A Slow Start to 2026
As the second seed in Auckland, Navarro lost her opening match of the season in a three-set upset loss to Francesca Jones. The next week in Adelaide, she managed two wins but fell in an upset loss to Diana Shnaider in straight sets. The disappointing Australian swing culminated with a first-round Australian Open loss to Magda Linette.
She didn’t fare much better in the Middle East swing either, losing her opening match in Abu Dhabi despite winning the second set 6-0. She then lost in the second round of both Doha and Dubai and was slowly dropping in the rankings.
Her attempted title defense in Merida ended before it could get off the ground as Navarro suffered a first-round loss. After an opening-match loss in Indian Wells where Navarro served for the match multiple times and a first-round loss at a WTA 125, Navarro stepped away from the Tour for health reasons.
While Navarro didn’t share the details of what she was going through, taking time away proved to be the right decision.
Clay Season Comeback
Navarro returned to the WTA Tour in Rome, where she lost to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in front of a passionate Italian crowd. She then lost in the second round of a WTA 125, but she was just getting her footing on the court.
Unseeded, Navarro went to Strasbourg and took it all.
After a straight-set win over Sara Bejlek, Navarro managed her first upset since her win over Iga Swiatek in Beijing last October in defeating third seed Iva Jovic. Navarro and Jovic exchanged 6-4 sets, and in the third set Navarro pulled away, winning it, 6-1.
In the quarterfinals, Navarro had perhaps an even tougher challenge: Zhang Shuai. Zhang has been one of Navarro’s toughest opponents in her career, and Navarro entered the match 0-3 against Zhang.
During many moments in the match, it looked as though the trend would continue. Zhang served for the match twice in the second set and went up an early break in the third, but Navarro clawed her way back from every deficit and pulled off the unlikely win. Then, with a straight-set win over Ann Li, Navarro was into the final.
Up against top seed Victoria Mboko, Navarro came out swinging. She took the first set 6-0. But it wasn’t all straightforward, as Mboko came back from a break deficit in the second set to force a decider.
When it mattered most, though, Navarro brought her best tennis. Unrelenting in the third set, Navarro held onto her advantages and won it, 6-2, concluding a monumental title run.
This year, Navarro has been surrounded by doubt and uncertainty. But this week, all of that was just background noise as she lifted the trophy at the end of the tournament.
Main photo credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images
