Transcript: Emma Navarro def. Hailey Baptiste, 6-4, 6-3

Emma Navarro def. Hailey Baptiste, 6-4, 6-3

Round of 32

MODERATOR: We’ll get started. Emma, congrats on the win today. Can you share your thoughts on the match?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah. It feels good to get a win under my belt here in Charleston. First rounds are never easy, and especially playing in your hometown, you want to do as well as you can in front of the fans and family and friends. So, yeah, definitely felt a little bit of the pressure today, but I expected it, and I’m happy to be moving on.

Emma, congratulations. I think she was one of 13 on break points. A, is that too many, and B, how did you fight them all off?

EMMA NAVARRO: For sure. I’d like for that number to be zero. But, yeah, just kind of kept telling myself, you know, get to 15, get to 30, get to 40, keep coming. And, yeah, at 5-3 when I went down 0-40, I was like I don’t know if I can do this again, but, yeah, I ended up pulling it off. And, yeah, I think I never consider a game or a match over until it’s really over. So just try to keep fighting.

I saw you were successful on the backhand side with the drop shot. Do you want to do it on the forehand side? I saw that you seemed more comfortable doing it on the backhand.

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah. I think I kind of developed my backhand drop shot first. So it’s more of a go-to, I guess, for me. But it’s definitely there on the forehand as well, and sometimes I get a little stubborn from the baseline. I just want to get in a groove on my forehand. And, yeah, I think as I get more comfortable on the clay especially, the forehand drop will come in more and more.

Emma, congratulations on the win. Athletes often talk about proving doubters wrong, and I wondered just if you’d comment on that and if that’s something you’ve experienced and you’ve felt in your brief career?

EMMA NAVARRO: I wouldn’t say it’s a huge motivating factor for me. I kind of have more intrinsic motivation, I guess, than feeling like, I don’t know, I want to prove the people that didn’t believe in me wrong. A little bit maybe, it’s nice to kind of have success when certain people tell you that you wouldn’t, but I would say it doesn’t carry too much weight in my head.

I wondered if you’d comment on Hailey is a tough test. What makes her tough to play?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah. Her serve is really tough to play against. It not only has pace, but it has kind of a bite to it. It jumps off the court, especially green clay court. And she moves it around the box really well. And, yeah, didn’t have an easy time returning against it. And she’s strong out of corners from the baseline and, yeah, covers the court really well. So definitely not easy.

Congratulations. You talked about the pressure of playing in Charleston. Not every player on tour gets a chance to play in their hometown during the season. So how do you navigate the pressures of playing an event, and, also, I guess the opportunity to meet with friends and family that you don’t get to see the rest of the season?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah, there’s definitely pressure that comes with it and maybe more expectations and just a heightened desire to do really well. But at the same time it’s amazing. I feel so lucky to be able to play a tournament in Charleston. Probably my favorite city in the world, and I get to be cheered on by a lot of hometown fans and just people that I could see here in the stands in my match or at the coffee shop by my house. So it’s really cool to be home and kind of give back to them a little bit. And, yeah, I’m trying to manage the pressure, for sure, but also just really enjoy it.

Kind of piggybacking on that a little bit, can you talk a little more about the crowd? Particularly kind of a Wednesday afternoon, a lot of local people would be at work or whatever, but looked like they were kind of playing hooky today to see you. Can you just talk about how big the crowd was and how supportive they were?

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah. If anyone is playing hooky, their secret is safe with me, for sure. I’m not telling. Yeah, it’s really cool to have such a big crowd out here in a day session on a Wednesday. It means a ton to me to have everyone come out and cheer me on and just cheer good tennis on, I guess. Yeah, it’s definitely a week that, like I said, I want to give back to the fans a bit that cheer me on, you know, week in, week out. So it’s definitely an opportunity to do that.

There was the report today about a letter that the Top 20 players sent to the Grand Slams asking for more prize money, and you’re one of the Top 20. So I’m curious your thoughts on that issue and why Top 20 players think that’s important.

EMMA NAVARRO: Yeah. I haven’t — I guess I haven’t given that a ton of my energy. I talked a little bit to the other players about it and felt like it was a good idea to sign. And, yeah, I think there have been, I guess, some sort of unfair pay ratios — I don’t know the correct terminology — but in the past. And I think it’s a good cause to sort of come together as players and make sure we’re getting treated fairly.

Congratulations. Each season you’ve been improving and ascending up the rankings. I’m just curious is there a most recent level of your game or attribute, a tangible thing that you can point to as far as what adds that extra layer to you cracking the Top 10?

EMMA NAVARRO: It’s tough to pick one thing. I feel like there’s been so many things that I’ve been working on and will continue to work on as long as I’m playing. I think one thing is just putting a lot of work in in the gym with my physio, with my trainer and gaining a real understanding of the way that I want to use my body, and kind of locking that part of my game in has given me a bit of confidence, like, you know, knowing that I’m able to be strong and stable. And people are hitting really hard at me, so feeling like I’m strong enough to push back against that is something that’s really important to me. So I think that’s definitely helped me a bit.

MODERATOR: Thanks, everyone.

EMMA NAVARRO: Thank you.

End of Interview