Emma Navarro works three-set magic again on Day 1 of 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier

LAKE NONA, Fla. - Emma Navarro was in an unfamiliar situation when she walked on court on Friday night at the USTA National Campus for her first-ever match representing the U.S. in Billie Jean King Cup play. By the end of it, though, she was right where she wanted to be.

The 22-year-old's 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Belgium's Hanne Vandewinkel, from 6-4, 4-2 down in 2 hours and 30 minutes, didn't just put the U.S. ahead 2-0 after the first day of the two-day tie. It was also her tour-leading 13th three-set victory of 2024, which is far and away the most on the WTA tour after the season's first three-plus months. 

"At one point, I think it was in the second set, I told Lindsay, 'I can do this.' What I kind of meant is, 'I'm going to do this. I'll stay out here for as long as it takes and do whatever I need to do,'" Navarro said afterwards. 

"I'm always willing to make it ugly and get scrappy. I think that's kind of the beauty of this sport. It's great when you're playing well and things look pretty and they feel pretty, but I think it's nights like these that really count."

Since the start of 2023, Navarro has played nearly 120 matches, and won a staggering 86 of them. But all that winning has made her one of tennis' most improved players; last January, she was ranked just inside the Top 150, and she came into this week in Lake Nona ranked No. 21—just one spot off her career-high of No. 20, which she reached on March 18. Last year, she reached seven finals on the USTA Pro Circuit, and already this year, she won her first WTA singles title, reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, and upset reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka on her way to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Indian Wells.

All that play might've caught up with her, coupled with a chilly evening in Lake Nona: After losing the first set against Vandewinkel, Navarro took was she and captain Lindsay Davenport both thought was the first medical timeout of her career to receive treatment on her right shoulder.