Emma Navarro, UVA’s star women’s tennis player, will be a focal point for the Hoos in the upcoming season
Emma Navarro’s second and last year of collegiate tennis is reflected upon.
Read on as we look back at Emma Navarro’s second and last year of collegiate tennis, when she established herself as a future star in the sport and prepared to enter the professional ranks.
E. Navarro Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Emma Navarro entered her sophomore season with high hopes after winning the 2021 NCAA National Singles Championship as a freshman.
Despite the weight of expectation on her shoulders, she turned in a fantastic performance that earned her team the season’s title and helped launch her professional tennis career after only two years of college.
Emma Navarro has a 26-2 singles record and a 20-7 doubles record in 2021–2022.
She started the season as the ITA’s No. 1 ranked singles player and stayed there for four consecutive weeks before finishing the season as the No. 2 player in the country.
As a doubles team, Navarro and partner Hibah Shaikh reached as high as No. 3 in the ITA rankings, and they finished the season ranked No. 4 in the country with a 13-6 record.
Navarro made history by becoming the first player from the University of Virginia to be selected ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year.
The victory by Navarro and Shaikh over the top-ranked doubles pair in the country in the ACC Semifinals helped the Cavaliers upset UNC and progress to the ACC Championship, where they were defeated by Duke.
Navarro was a key contributor to Virginia’s run to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, where they ultimately fell to the eventual champion Texas Longhorns. Navarro prevailed over Peyton Stearns, the eventual 2022 NCAA Singles Champion, in this match.
Although Navarro entered the singles tournament as the top seed, he was knocked out by eventual champion Stearns in the 16th round.
And the No. 3 Doubles seed of Navarro and Shaikh went out in the Round of 16.
The two Sweet 16 appearances ensured Emma Navarro’s All-American status in singles and doubles.
After the season was over, Emma was once again recognised as the best player in the state of Virginia by being awarded the 2022 VaSID All-State Player of the Year.
Also, for the second year in a row, she was among the top four finalists for the Honda Award, presented to the world’s finest female tennis player.
After two years as one of the finest college players in the country, Emma Navarro has decided to leave Virginia and pursue a professional career.
The Virginia tennis team will miss Navarro’s explosiveness next spring after a successful run during her time as a Cavalier.