“I want to say ‘thanks’ to my dad because he saw a vision from when I was really young,” Emma Navarro said during an on-court interview after demolishing Paula Badosa and setting up a US Open semifinal against Aryna Sabalenka! Emma Navarro, whose father, Ben, is a big tennis fan, adopted the sport quite early on and even played collegiate tennis in Virginia. His father, a billionaire businessman who bought the Charleston Tennis LLC in 2018, a year before Navarro’s WTA Tour debut, has always been “around the corner” for her.

He was there even during her latest victory in New York, smiling in the stands during the on-court interview where Navarro joked about how her father recognized Navarro’s “ADHD” symptoms during school and suggesting tennis as a positive outlet. Following the match, a reporter asked her during the US Open Tennis Championships press conference, “You thanked your dad after the match. Tennis is an expensive sport. How much did the family resources help you earlier?”

The 23-year-old player whose family moved from New York to Charleston as a kid said, “I had access to courts from a young age and I was able to practice with other kids. I had coaches that would help me out for sure, but I think a lot of kids have access to that, especially in the US and I think it is cool that our sport is growing and more and more kids do have resources like that. So for sure, it played a role in allowing me to be where I am at now, and I am super grateful that I did have those resources as a kid,”Navarro concluded.

The owner of the highly coveted Cincinnati Open, Ben Navarro’s net worth, is estimated to be around $1.5 billion in 2024. However, in 1998, three years before Emma’s birth, Ben was already making strides in the business world by starting the Sherman Financial Group, which became a major credit card issuer by 2005! Navarro’s early success in tennis allowed her to forego a full college career, focusing solely on her professional aspirations. Her dedication paid off in 2021 when she captured the NCAA singles championship.

In an interview with Tennis Channel earlier this year, Emma Navarro called her father “the smartest guy” she knows and credited him for forming her attitude as an athlete. “He’s taught me a bunch about the perspective I want to take into things, especially on-court stuff,” she said. In a different interview, Navarro also opened up on why her father wanted to build an intrigue for tennis in her.

Emma Navarro’s deep appreciation for her father!

Emma Navarro, who had a first-round exit from the 2023 US Open, grew up watching the “best female players” play in tournaments like the Charleston Open (previously called, Volvo Car Open). However, when asked about who her mentor is, she says, “My dad has always been in my corner, getting me the coaching and training, whatever I needed.”

Moreover, Navarro revealed, “My dad always said he wanted it to be a family sport. I have two older brothers, and they both played. As soon as I was old enough and strong enough to hold a racquet, I was out there on the court with them.” With the support of his father, who helped her adopt a better “mindset” while playing tennis, Navarro wants to get “good” at tennis, following a path that she considers being “sustainable.”

Therefore, the former World No. 93 in doubles, Emma Navarro’s story, highlights a blend of hard work and dedication and how it impacts a player’s future in the sport with and without a privileged upbringing!