Cavaliers Now

Emma Navarro Breezes Past Naomi Osaka in Wimbledon Second Round

Matt Newton

Emma Navarro shakes hands with Naomi Osaka after their second round match at Wimbledon Centre Court.
Emma Navarro shakes hands with Naomi Osaka after their second round match at Wimbledon Centre Court. / Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

On one side of the court, Emma Navarro, making her first-ever appearance on Centre Court at Wimbledon. On the other side, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.

The outcome? A dominant 6-4, 6-1 victory for the former Virginia tennis star Emma Navarro in a match that lasted just 58 minutes.

Navarro, who is the No. 19 seed in the ladies' singles draw, crushed Osaka in every facet of the match and cruised into the third round at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Osaka, who took hiatuses away from the sport for her mental health and then due to maternity leave in 2023, returned to the tour in 2024 and posted her first victory at Wimbledon in five years in the first round. That set up a second-round matchup with Navarro, a 23-year-old making her second career appearance at Wimbledon but riding a wave of momentum in the midst of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team and reaching a career-high singles ranking of No. 17 in the world.

Navarro is playing the sharpest tennis of her life and it showed on Wednesday, punishing every mistake Osaka made and cruising past the former world No. 1 with ease. If you didn't catch Navarro's remarkable performance on TV, the numbers are just as impressive. Navarro won four of her five break points and did not face a break point on her own serve. She recorded 16 winners and committed only five unforced errors. Navarro didn't need to go to the net much, but was a perfect 4/4 on net points.

Navarro, who won the 2021 NCAA Women's Singles title as a true freshman at Virginia, earned her first victory at Wimbledon by dispatching Chinas's Qiang Wang 6-0, 6-2 in the first round. By taking down Osaka , Navarro has advance to the third round, where she will face world No. 30 Diana Shnaider on Friday with a spot in the Round of 16 on the line.

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.