Emma Navarro’s grit and fight have truly been praiseworthy in Melbourne so far! The 23-year-old American tennis star recently ousted Russia’s Daria Kasatkina by 6-4,5-7,7-5 in the fourth round of the 2025 AO. Guess what? Navarro has now perhaps become a three-set specialist. This was her fourth consecutive three-setter in this tournament. Interestingly, no WTA has perhaps played more three-setters than Navarro since the beginning of 2024. Next up for her is the current world number 2, Iga Swiatek! Would she prefer going a ‘familiar’ way against the Polish star as well?

Well, speaking on her incredible fightbacks in this tournament, Navarro said, “I’ve just been staying alive, so hoping to continue on that train.” This will now be her third consecutive Grand Slam QF appearance. Before this, the American reached the SF of the US Open 2024. Now, it’ll be interesting to see if she can overcome this massive hurdle in the QF and make yet another SF entry in a major tournament.

On the other hand, Iga Swiatek is entering this contest following her impressive win against Germany’s Eva Lys. She defeated Lys by 6-0,6-1 in just 59 minutes. So, the situation has been quite different for both Swiatek and Navarro at the moment. Iga Swiatek has spent less than 5 hours on the court at the first Grand Slam of the year, while Emma Navarro has been extended to more than 10 hours of playing time as of now. Seeing her record in the longer matches in this season, makes us wonder if Navarro would want to fancy her chances against someone like Swiatek by preferring yet another three-setter.

In reply to a similar question from a journalist in her post-match press conference, Emma Navarro said, “Umm, I prefer to win in two sets. Um, that’s yeah…that’s a goal but we’ll see what happens.” This will be Navarro’s second meeting with Swiatek and that’s exactly what makes this contest more interesting. It’ll be their first match at any level in nearly seven years. Their previous meeting was in the R32 of the 2018 Charleston Open. Swiatek had won that by two sets at that time.

Interestingly, Iga Swiatek was then ranked outside the Top 100 and Emma Navarro was ranked outside the Top 1000. What do both the players have to say about their transition since that time and what are their present thoughts about each other?

Iga Swiatek says she’s stepping into the unknown against Emma Navarro

Iga Swiatek has a patchy record at the AO with her best result coming in 2022. The Pole managed to reach the SF at that time. Can she reach the SF yet again after almost three years? Well, the answer perhaps lies at the hands of Emma Navarro. What does Swiatek have to say about the American? “I don’t know what I’m expecting. We played in 2018, but I’m not going to count this. I have to treat Emma as someone that I never played. We both made huge progress since that time. It’s a bit different when you don’t know the opponent that well,” said the five-time Grand Slam champion.

The Pole believes she has a lot to improve and she believes her peak is yet to come in this tournament. With WADA’s recent announcement of them not appealing her case, Swiatek now feels a bit “satisfied” and all she wants now is to “focus solely on tennis.” So, with a free mind and cautious approach, Swiatek is keen to pass the Emma Navarro test in the QF of the 2025 AO.

What does Emma Navarro have to say about her chances this time against someone like Swiatek? Recalling the moments of their previous encounter, Navarro said, “I felt like I had no chance and that in 2018 I was a very different player from who I am now. I felt like I lacked power, speed, and nothing to challenge her. I felt like I was just putting balls in play and she was hitting winners. It was like a kind of clinic, but I feel like I’m a completely different player now.”

Both the players are now two of the biggest stars in the women’s tennis world. Who do you think will outshine the other in this high-octane clash in Melbourne on Wednesday?