UVa's Emma Navarro wins NCAA women's tennis singles championship

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Virginia true freshman Emma Navarro entered Friday's NCAA singles championship match in Orlando with one blemish on her 24-1 record all season. Miami's Estela Perez-Somarriba beat Navarro on April 4 in a three-set match.

The opponent Friday as No. 3-seeded Navarro went for the crown? No. 2 seed Perez-Somarriba, a senior who, of course, also happened to be the defending NCAA champion.

Things went a bit differently this time around, though.

In a quick 75 minutes, Navarro returned the favor when it mattered most, dispatching Perez-Somarriba, 6-3, 6-1, to become the second UVa women's player to claim a singles title, following in the footsteps of Danielle Collins, who won titles in 2014 and '16 and has gone on to a solid pro career, having reached the 2019 Australian Open semifinals and 2020 French Open quarterfinals. Navarro finished the season 25-1 and handed Perez-Somarriba (24-3) her third loss of the year.





“I think what’s so special about winning this is the team of girls and coaches that have been behind me this whole season,” said Navarro, who noted she has heard from Collins throughout her run to the title.

Five UVa tennis players have won NCAA singles championships. On the men's side, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski did it in 2017, Ryan Shane in 2015, and Somdev Devvarman won consecutive crowns in 2007 and '08.

Perez-Somarriba, who won the April meeting 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, actually got out to a 2-0 lead in the first set Friday, but Navarro stormed back to win six of the final seven games to go up a set. In the second set, the score was knotted at 1-1, but Navarro won the final five games to finish off Perez-Somarriba.

“I was up 6-1, 2-0 the last time we played, and she ended up coming back and winning in a third set, so I knew she was gonna fight, and she definitely did today," Navarro said of her opponent. "I think I was able to dictate with my forehand and finish a lot of points with my backhand, and I was able to execute better than I was last time, which is always a good feeling when you have a game plan, and you can follow through with it."

Navarro is the eighth freshman overall and first since 2009 to win the women's singles title. As the NCAA singles champ, Navarro earns a wild card into the main draw of the U.S. Open, slated for Aug. 31-Sept. 12 this season.
Navarro not only defeated the No. 2 seed in the tournament, she upset the No. 1 seed as well, taking down North Carolina's Sara Daavettila, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, in the semifinals, giving Daavettila (22-2) her second loss of the season. Navarro was on the cusp of beating Daavettila earlier this year, too. On April 24 in the ACC tournament semifinals, Navarro led Daavettila in the third set 5-4 when the overall match was called with UNC topping UVa, 4-1.

In addition to winning against ACC foes in her final two matches, Navarro beat LSU's Paris Corley, 6-2, 6-1, in the quarterfinals, Georgia's Meg Kowalski, 6-1, 6-1, in the round of 16, Arizona State's Ilze Hattingh, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0, in the round of 32, and Cal's Hailey Giavara, 7-6 (3), 6-2, in the round of 64.

Navarro indicated after the match she does plan on returning to UVa and not turning pro just yet. With three more years of eligibility remaining, there's a distinct possibility she will have a chance to match Collins with a second singles title.

In addition to her singles championship, Navarro did well in the NCAA doubles tournament. She teamed with senior Rosie Johanson to reach the semifinals, where they fell to Texas' Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun, 4-6, 7-5, 10-8. Navarro and Johanson were the first UVa women's doubles team to advance to the semifinals.

Also in doubles for UVa, sophomore Natasha Subhash and junior Sofia Munera advanced to the quarterfinals, falling to North Carolina's Makenna Jones and Elizabeth Scotty, 6-3, 6-3.

In the singles tournament, Subhash lost in the second round to UNC's Alexa Graham, 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-1.

Men's tennis: Sophomore Jeffrey von der Schulenburg lost 6-1, 6-0 in the first round of the NCAA singles tournament to Florida's Duarte Vale.

Photo credits: NCAA/USTA

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