It was a two-year deal. It was some kind of plan between Emma Navarro and Peter Ayers.
She had just turned professional after two seasons at the University of Virginia, won an NCAA singles title in her first year and then returned for an encore, and the two agreed to a road map that, if executed properly, would tame the highs and lows of sorrow that inevitably accompany a tennis career.
Ayers, the longtime coach of the New York native and world No. 12, said Tuesday that after a successful week it would be easy for Navarro to think, “This is the best decision I've ever made.”
The opposite could just as easily have happened, so they instead gave her a “runway” for two years, focusing on daily progress before assessing her overall success.
If they had their ears pinned down by a player ranked 250th in the world, those thoughts could be exacerbated to the point that they regretted their decision to leave college early to become a professional tennis player. For two years, they focused on the day-to-day.
Measurable but incremental progress could eventually bring about the fusion and realization of the Navarro they both envisioned.
That two-year milestone was reached in June, Navarro said Tuesday.
Neither she nor Ayers would admit it. She had already risen, slowly and then quite rapidly, through the Women's Tennis Association rankings, exceeding her own expectations and reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July.
She will face Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open semifinals on Thursday with a chance to move one step closer to her first Grand Slam title.
So if Navarro's tennis career could be divided into two-year segments – his two years at the University of Virginia and his first two-year contract on tour that ended three months ago – the first few months of the 23-year-old's latest era have hinted at an imminent breakthrough.
“The fact that she never skipped a step is what I think has prepared her for these moments, these big moments, these big stages,” Sarah O'Leary, Navarro's head coach at Virginia, told The Post. “And I think a big part of that is the preparation that they've put in and the way they've gone about it.”
When Navarro arrived at the University of Virginia, O'Leary worked with her to add a variety of shots — slices, drop shots and serves — and also helped Navarro play doubles regularly.
This improved her volleying. During her two years at Virginia, Navarro went 51-3 in singles, losing only one match her freshman year, and 33-17 in doubles. In the same year that she won the NCAA singles title, Navarro and Rosie Johansson reached the semifinals of the NCAA doubles tournament.
If O'Leary watched Navarro's current game, he'd notice his former player eschewing shots from behind the baseline and off the back foot, which have more power, as well as serves and returns.
“I think she definitely realized that just going from junior tennis to college, she has to be a lot more aggressive,” O'Leary said, “and then going from college to the pro level, she has to be a lot more aggressive.”
But once Navarro left Virginia, she had to follow a two-year plan with Ayers, whom O'Leary described as a “philosophical” coach.
Navarro won the 2023 French Open in his first Grand Slam tournament since leaving the University of Virginia, but then suffered consecutive first-round losses in the final two majors of the year.
She then won the Hobart Invitational, her second tournament in 2024, and again reached the final and semifinals. At the French Open, she defeated Madison Keys, who was ranked 14th at the time, but lost to Sabalenka for a spot in the quarterfinals.
And after perhaps the biggest win of her career against Gauff at Wimbledon, she beat the top American again at Queens, where Gauff struggled with unforced errors and Navarro took advantage, O'Leary said.
One of her strengths, even before she enrolled at the University of Virginia, was her ability to outwit her opponents by hitting long point after long point, taking extra shots to prolong rallies and ultimately forcing mistakes.
Her first win over Gauff put Navarro on the map as a star in the future of women's tennis, and this latest surge, coupled with her second win over Gauff, marks the latest milestone for Navarro.
But Navarro hasn't changed, O'Leary said — she's “the same old Emma,” just this time with a chance to finish with a Grand Slam trophy.
“I don't think there are any limits for Emma,” O'Leary said.
