“Ice girl,” her uncles used to call her, an affectionate acknowledgment of her laid-back nature. And how Emma Navarro lived up to that moniker at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday to reach her maiden WTA 1000 quarter-final.
Neither the challenge of facing the world No 2 nor the significance of the moment seemed to faze Navarro, who delivered a masterclass in playing the ball rather than the opponent as she calmly powered, scrapped and retrieved her way to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory.
The 22-year-old’s composure was matched by her tenacity. Deep in the third set, when Sabalenka began to make inroads into a 4-1 deficit, Navarro never doubted herself, never stopped chasing lost causes or making one more ball.
For Sabalenka, who was once again below her best as she committed 34 unforced errors and missed four of six break points, it was a recipe for frustration. As Navarro closed in on the biggest win of her career, her serenity afforded a pointed contrast with the Belarusian’s grimaces and roars of anguish.
“I feel the best when it’s really quiet in my head,” said Navarro, who will face Maria Sakkari in the last eight. “Things happen, and obviously I’ll feel a certain way about them, but it’s a three-second emotion and then it’s gone.
“A lot of people have said it, but just having a short-term memory is so important in tennis. I feel the best when things just don’t get under my skin and I don’t have too many highs or lows, I just feel pretty steady throughout. That’s what I felt today.”
Ranked 23 in the world and heading north at speed, Navarro has her mother, Kelly – “ice woman”, as she is known within the family – to thank for her unflappable disposition. Her poise was never more evident than in the seventh game of the decider, where Sabalenka, battling tigerishly against an inspired opponent, a swirling wind and her own erratic play, stood within two points of getting back on serve.
As Navarro served at deuce, Sabalenka lashed a return deep into the American’s forehand corner and moved forward behind a drop shot. With Sabalenka covering the net like an albatross, Navarro fashioned a scrambling pass before chasing back to gather the Australian Open champion’s lunging response. At a stroke, Navarro transformed defence into attack, hoisting up a deep lob that had Sabalenka backpedalling furiously, then running her from pillar to post with a drop shot and another flicked lob. Demonstrating that she is more than just a counter-puncher, Navarro followed up by cracking a backhand winner to hold. She would not be caught.
“I love to scramble, I love to get scrappy, as my coach says,” reflected Navarro, who is projected to break the top 20 for the first time next week. “It’s one of the things that I love the most about the game, just that cat-and-mouse aspect of playing.
“I’ve put a ton of effort into fitness and just making sure that I’m strong enough and I’m fit enough and I’m able to go the distance. I think having that gives me a lot of confidence, knowing that I can stay out on the court for as long as it takes. I’m not going to lose because I got tired or I wasn’t fit enough.”
For all Navarro’s excellence, it was perhaps a result had been coming for Sabalenka. She has struggled in the slow, windswept conditions of this self-styled Tennis Paradise, surviving her opener against Peyton Stearns only after saving four match points, then navigating a tight second set against Emma Raducanu.
“I didn’t play my best tennis,” said Sabalenka. “She played some great tennis.
“I didn’t feel my best on these courts. I tried to adjust. We tried to work on a couple of things, make sure I’m there and I’m fighting for this title. I would say that we did our best and we’ll learn. We’ll work a little bit more on the movement, and hopefully I’ll be ready for Miami.”
Navarro, meanwhile, appears ready for anything. She has racked up a tour-leading 18 wins this season and Sakkari, who inflicted a straight-sets defeat on the American last month in Dubai, is alive to the danger that awaits in their quarter-final showdown.
“She’s low key, very, very good,” said the Greek ninth seed, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Diane Parry of France. “She’s very talented, and she’s just so relaxed and laid back. She’s a very nice girl, as well.
“She has variety [to] her game. She likes to slice, likes to step in on the return. I’m just going to enjoy tomorrow’s match.”
Against Navarro, that is more than most have managed of late.