Emma Navarro reached the 2026 Nottingham Open quarterfinals with her second three-set comeback of the week. The world No. 25 beat Ukraine's Yulia Starodubtseva 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4 in a tough battle on Wednesday.
Navarro Clinches Gritty WTA 250 Event Win in Nottingham
The US star trailed 3-1 in the deciding set but took five of the next six games to close it out. She credited a point-by-point approach during those tense final frames.
"In that position you just want to think about one point at a time," she said. "It’s not recovering the whole set or how you’re going to win the match. Just get to 15, then to 30, then to 40 and see what happens. I did that pretty well."
It marked a familiar pattern for Navarro. Just two days earlier, she rallied from a set down to beat Anna Bondar in three.
"I feel pretty good. It’s always a work in progress; everything is," Navarro said of her grass-court season so far. "I’m enjoying the process of trying to get better and I feel good about what I’m doing, and I’m enjoying myself too."
The composure she showed against Starodubtseva is nothing new for WTA fans who follow Navarro closely. She reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2024 after knocking out Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka in consecutive rounds.
But this run carries extra weight after a two-and-a-half-month injury break slowed her early season. However, Navarro came back healthy on clay, winning the WTA 500 title in Strasbourg before shifting surfaces.
With this latest WTA 250 win at Nottingham, Navarro continues her pursuit of her first career grass-court title. She next faces Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in Friday's quarterfinal.
