Emma Navarro survived a tense opening round at the 2026 Bad Homburg Open, beating German wild-card Eva Lys 7-6 (6), 6-3. The win moves her into a round-of-16 meeting with world No. 3 Iga Świątek.
Navarro built a 5-3 lead in the first set but couldn't convert three set points. Lys then pushed ahead 6-3 in the tiebreak with three set points of her own.
However, Navarro stayed resilient, reeling off five straight points to take the opener. From there, she broke early in the second set and closed out the match without much resistance.
Emma Navarro vs Iga Świątek Headlines 2026 Bad Homburg Open
The matchup will mark Navarro's fourth career meeting with the Polish star. Świątek won the first two, before Navarro took the most recent one last year in Beijing.
The US hopeful enters on a strong run despite a slow start to the year following an undisclosed health issue. Now healthy and eyeing a WTA Top 10 comeback, No. 24 Navarro earned 11 wins in her last 14 matches, alongside a title in Strasbourg and a finals appearance in Nottingham.
Świątek, who received a first-round bye, will need to stay sharp as Navarro looks to ride grass-court momentum all the way to next week's Wimbledon Grand Slam.
