Billionaire tennis star dumped out of Madrid Open after making debut
Emma Navarro lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia in Madrid.
Emma Navarro suffered a disappointing early exit at the Madrid Open as she crashed out to Beatriz Haddad Maia in her opening match. The world No. 23 made her debut at the tournament this year and won her opening match but experienced clay-courter Haddad Maia proved too tough an opponent. Navarro has a unique connection to tennis as her billionaire father Ben owns two tournaments including another WTA 1000 in Cincinnati.
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Navarro got off to a red-hot start in her debut in Madrid, dropping just three games in her opening match to Nadia Podoroska. But her run ended in the round of 32 as last year’s French Open semi-finalist got the better of her.
The American went down an early break but immediately got back on serve after pouncing in a lengthy game. But the world No. 14 regained her advantage a couple of games later and saved three break points to close the set.
Both women failed to capitalise chances to break early in the second but it was Navarro who was constantly under pressure. After saving eight break points in the set, the world No. 23 finally succumbed to Haddad Maia and the Brazilian served out a 6-4 6-4 victory in under two hours.
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Navarro will now hope to do better at the upcoming Italian Open where she will also make her debut. Despite being a top 25 player, the American is experiencing plenty of firsts on the WTA Tour this season as she spent most of last year grinding it out on the ITF circuit.
It means that the 22-year-old isn’t as much of a well-known name compared to her colleagues ranked in a similar position. Navarro turned pro at the beginning of 2022 after playing college tennis and last season she entered a staggering 29 tournaments.
Her efforts on the lower tier paid off and she ended 2023 ranked at a then-career-high of No. 38 in the world. Navarro has kept on rolling this season, winning her maiden tour-level title in Hobart and upsetting world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka en route to her first WTA 1000 quarter-final in Indian Wells.
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While Navarro is a new face for some fans, her family is well-known in the tennis world. Her father Ben is the owner of the Credit One Open in Charleston, a WTA 500 event that is a favourite among the players.
He bought Charleston Tennis LLC through his Beemok Sports company back in 2018 and renamed both the tournament and the stadium in 2021 as Credit One Bank - which is owned by his Sherman Financial Group company - became the title sponsor.
Navarro’s dad funded major renovations to the main stadium as a gift to the city of Charleston which were unveiled at the 2022 edition of the tournament. Two years ago he also bought the Cincinnati Open, a joint ATP and WTA 1000-point event. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion).
