Emma Navarro is currently sitting at a career-high ranking of 13 in the world after a run to the semi-finals in Toronto.
The American has been quietly cultivating an incredibly neat game this year, with the slightly later-bloomer spending a lot of her early career tearing it up at college level.
After Emma Navarro’s run to the last eight at the Wimbledon this year, she’s only seen her ranking glide upwards, and as the new WTA number 13, she is on the cusp of breaking in to the top 10 for the first time.
With Navarro claiming American tennis is at an all-time high, the rankings certainly seem to agree with her, with five US women currently in the top 15, including Coco Gauff who sits behind Iga Swiatek as the world number two.
The 23-year-old forced her way into her maiden WTA 1000 semi-final this week but was eventually felled by the returning Amanda Anisimova, who took a brief career hiatus towards the middle of 2023.
Anisimova was meant to be the next American star, but with various off-court struggles, she has only recently returned.
To the relief of all tennis fans, the smiley 22-year-old is already exuding the energy she had during the early stages of her career and is looking to already march back up the rankings.
Emma Navarro heaps praise on ‘incredibly talented’ Amanda Anisimova
With Navarro managing to push her opponent to three sets, she couldn’t quite clinch her spot in the final, and as an ace whistled past, she became the latest victim to Anisimova’s hot-streak.
With the 22-year-old American having risen 80 spots back into the top 50, she has already beaten Aryna Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina, and Anna Kalinskaya on her way to the final.
After her defeat, Navarro was quizzed on the potential of her compatriot: “I think [she has] a ton [of potential], she’s a big server, a hard hitter,” she explained. “I think she’s incredibly talented and when she’s hitting her spots, she’s really tough to beat.
“She can take any ball that her opponent hits and rip to either corner which is obviously a really valuable skill that she has. I think she has a ton of potential to continue having this success.”
Having last played each other at the 2022 Indian Wells in the opening round, Anisimova bulldozed past Navarro 6-2, 6-2, in form that she is seemingly picking back up again.
“I think I definitely made good strides this week, I played a lot of good tennis but today was definitely tough.
“I played her in the past and I kind of got it handed to me,” Navarro explained, “So definitely made progress today and at one point, I was for sure I had it in the bag but I wasn’t able to get it cross the finish line. But I feel good about how I’m playing and I’m excited to keep playing on the hard courts.”
Can Amanda Anisimova beat Jessica Pegula in the Toronto final?
It’s a rather poetic final in several ways, as Jessica Pegula bids to defend her title, while the plucky star of tomorrow looks to disrupt the narrative.
Having started the tournament as the world number 136, Anisimova’s route to the final has been far more challenging, at least on paper, than Pegula’s, who can win the title without having faced anyone inside the top 20.
With similar, baseline-reliant game styles, the pair have historically done well by simply blasting their opponents off the court.
With her backhand her most potent weapon, she hits it with incredible consistency, depth, and speed, producing many winners with her backhand down-the-line.
While Pegula’s ability to quickly problem-solve and adjust her game plan, if Anisimova can get into her stride early, she will be very difficult to stop.
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