Emma Navarro makes her true feelings known after dramatic Australian Open survival against fellow American

Emma Navarro moved into the second round of the 2025 Australian Open after toughing it out against fellow American Peyton Stearns on Tuesday, January 14. Navarro survived two tiebreaks in a three-setter that stretched to three hours and 22 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

The two Americans exchanged two breaks each in the opening set to force the match's first tiebreaker, which the latter won. The second set witnessed six break-point conversions but the No. 8 seed managed to equalize. In the decider, Navarro manged to break Stearns' serve thrice and close the match 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5.

Following the hard-fought win, she sat down with the press at Melbourne Park and reflected on the importance of testing oneself early in the competition while responding to a Sportskeeda question.

"I think those are some of the most rewarding matches and some of the matches where you learn the most about yourself and about your game. So I think it's definitely super valuable to have those early in the tournament. Yeah, I'll definitely take some confidence from today going into my next round," the American said.

Navarro will next take on China's Wang Xiyu, who defeated Austrian Julia Grabher 6-1, 7-5 in her first-round effort on Tuesday. She previously faced Wang in the first round of the Happy Slam last year and secured a 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-5 win.

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Emma Navarro: "Was just relying a lot on my grit and toughness and fight"

Emma Navarro (Getty)

In the same press conference, Emma Navarro accepted failing to bring her best tennis on the court against Peyton Stearns at the Australian Open on Tuesday but used all of her mental toughness.

"One of the more unique matches I've played in a while, I think," she said. "Definitely did not have my best stuff today. Yeah, it was just relying a lot, I guess, on my grit and toughness and fight. I think, yeah, she had a lot of moments there where she could have maybe closed it out or run away with it. I just tried to stay really tough."

The American continued:

"I just kept telling myself there at the end, Make the most of the skills I have today. I think maybe that's something that kind of clicked there for me at the end."

This was notably Emma Navarro's sixth clash with Peyton Stearns on the WTA Tour and she now leads her compatriot 5-1 in the head-to-head record.