Latest news with #EmmaNavarro
IOL News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Forget the tennis finals. At Wimbledon this July, it's pickleball.
Here. Of all places. It took a while, but even at Wimbledon, Britain's fortress of tennis traditionalism, pickleball is at the gates. On Day 6, it was louder. More than 100 people showed up to try a new court sport as Emma Navarro and Barbora Krejcikova prepared to face off on Wimbledon's Court No. 1, a few hundred yards away. Pickleball. On Day 4 of Wimbledon, some of the fans who queued up outside the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to see Novak Djokovic take on Dan Evans might have heard a distinctive thwock thwock thwock coming from the public park next door. It wasn't lawn tennis, or croquet, and it wasn't there a year ago. The American-invented hybrid of tennis, ping pong and badminton was officially recognized as a sport in December by the top sporting councils in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and is gaining footholds. The upstart racket sport, which has upended court culture in the United States, Canada and Australia, is taking off across the United Kingdom. After being slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, membership in the country's national pickleball organization grew by 73 percent last year and is on pace to jump by 114 percent in 2025. 'It's getting bigger all the time,' said Emma Wells, who runs tennis programs in Wimbledon Park. Wells introduced pickleball last year and is reconfiguring more of the courts each season. 'You respond to demand, and the demand is definitely here.' More like foot faults, aghast tennis purists say. As it booms here, pickleball is bringing the same frictions with tennis players (jealous of court space, sniffy of the skill needed), and complaints from neighbors (annoyed at the noise) that has marked its explosive spread in the United States. There was controversy at the highest levels - court intrigue, as it were - when the top governing body of English tennis in 2024 attempted unsuccessfully to wrest control of the new, suddenly everywhere sport from Pickleball England, the grassroots organization that has nurtured its growth since 2018. Critics said the motives of the Lawn Tennis Association were as much to keep pickleball in its place as a 'poor relation' as to promote it. The association denied being up to anything nefarious. 'We just felt that we could play a role by growing tennis and pickleball in a complementary way,' said Olly Scadgell, the association's managing director of tennis development. Perhaps nowhere is the juxtaposition of the ancient 'sport of kings' and the newcomer recreation of the masses as acute as in Wimbledon, the leafy London suburb where tennis is a religion and the first fortnight of July are holy weeks. At the venerable All England Club, the players wear white, the fans wear ties and, this weekend, the top pros will vie for trophies in the 'Gentlemen's' and 'Ladies'' divisions. Asked about pickleball, many were not amused. 'My job is to maintain decorum and protocol,' said the honorary marshal dressed in a straw boater hat, a smart blue blazer and a flawless Windsor tie as he scanned the crowd around Centre Court last week. 'It would not be appropriate for me to say what I think of - ' the honorary marshal paused in apparent pain, 'pickleball.' He declined to be quoted by name. 'It's a fun game,' Dean Goldfine, an American coach waiting to watch Djokovic, said with a shrug. 'I mean, you can't compare it to tennis.' 'Could they please call it something else?' wondered Wimbledon resident Nina Ruiz, still in tennis whites from her morning game and watching a doubles match on a jumbo screen set up at nearby Roehampton Club, the site of some of Wimbledon's practice courts. 'I've played it, and I like it,' Ruiz said, 'but that name.' Roehampton is one of dozens of clubs where pickleball is breaking through, but with growing pains. Responding to requests, club management allows one of its indoor tennis courts to be taped over into four pickleball courts for one day each week. Pickleball players want more. Many tennis players don't. Paul Lindsay, who oversees the club's nascent pickleball program, said the sport is gaining traction, but is still 'stifled' by the trad-tennis resistance. The club's tennis committee is split between those who think pickleball should get more space and those who warn 'it will devour tennis,' said committee member Emily Monson, who was also watching Wimbledon on the outdoor screen. One possible solution: reconfigure a few tennis courts for pickleball each day between 1 and 5 p.m., when even retiree tennis players tend to retreat from the heat or, this being London, the rain. 'That's a lot of retaping,' Ruiz said. 'It's certainly treating them like second-class citizens,' Monson said. Carolyn Laville grew up in Wimbledon, lives less than 500 yards from Centre Court and loves the grass-court pageantry that consumes her neighborhood each summer. She also wears her love of the new sport as loud as her pink-and-blue T-shirts that say 'Wimbledon Pickleball,' the group she co-founded with her son, pro pickleball player Louis Laville. The family discovered the game in Florida a few years ago and went crazy for it. Louis introduced the sport at Roehampton, played in national tournaments and helped start a nationwide Premier Pickleball League. He's now playing the pro circuit in Australia. Carolyn Laville, a business owner, plays at a growing number of courts around Wimbledon and recruits more and more players. 'Oh, well done!' she shouted, breathless, during a recent women's drill at Roehampton after failing to reach a wicked crosscourt backhand. Coming off the court, she unzipped her prized paddle, a JOOLA Agassi Pro signed by Andre Agassi. (Agassi is one Wimbledon vet who has embraced pickleball; as have Steffi Graf and Andy Roddick. John McEnroe has said 'compared to tennis, I think pickleball does suck, honestly.') The keen new players are phlegmatic about the resistance from tennis die-hards. 'It's a cultural thing,' said Serena Norgen, who says she joined the pickleball 'cult' after retiring. 'This club prides itself on being at the center of tennis. There's a lot of anxiety about that. But pickleball is here to stay.' It may be that no one ever orders a Pimm's Cup or strawberries and cream at a pickleball grand slam. And demand is still nowhere near the tidal wave washing through U.S. parks and tennis clubs. By some estimates, almost 50 million Americans have tried the sport, which fans hail as more accessible than tennis, and scolds deride as akin to riding an e-bike in the Tour de France. But popularity is building in the U.K. The number of venues climbed tenfold in the last six years, and the estimated number of players jumped from 2,000 to 45,000. 'A lot of clubs have embraced it, and a lot of them are now at full capacity,' said Karen Mitchell, a retired American Express executive who runs Pickleball England. 'We're always running out of space.' Four dedicated pickleball courts debuted in June at Park Sports, a pay-to-play tennis complex on the grounds of Chiswick House, an 18th-Century neo-Palladian villa just across the Thames from Wimbledon. It was their second run at the sport; eight courts launched last year were popular but sparked noise complaints. 'We learned some things,' said Luke Brosse, the marketing manager for Park Sports. 'With two tennis courts you have four players and two balls. With eight pickleball courts, you have 32 players and eight balls; it does make a bit more noise.' The new courts, farther from nearby houses and showcased by the club entrance, have drawn double the bookings - 'I've never seen a sport grow so fast,' Brosse said - and has inspired eye rolls from tennis-firsters. 'I think it's a little silly compared to tennis, to be honest,' said Benjamin Borger, 19, a university student playing tennis at Chiswick last week. 'My biggest issue is that it takes courts away.' But Park Sports wants to expand pickleball. It is eyeing courts it manages in Hyde Park, Regent's Park and other billboard London locales. But in those 'Royal Parks,' owned by the Crown, pickleball has been a tougher sell. 'They have been a bit more hesitant about a new sport,' Brosse said. Maybe, in the House of Windsor, pickleball has met its match.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mirra Andreeva beat Emma Navarro at Wimbledon. She was the last person to realize she won
LONDON (AP) — Mirra Andreeva was the last person on Centre Court to realize she beat Emma Navarro on Monday, a result that made her the youngest woman in 18 years to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Andreeva was so focused on not thinking about the score — and avoiding looking at Roger Federer — that the 18-year-old Russian didn't grasp that the fourth-round match was over when Navarro netted a forehand. Advertisement So instead of celebrating a 6-2, 6-3 win, the seventh-seeded Andreeva calmly turned back to her baseline and started fiddling with her racket, seemingly getting ready for the next point. It wasn't until she noticed the reaction from the crowd — and coach Conchita Martinez celebrating — that it dawned on her she won. 'Honestly, I just kept telling myself that I'm facing break points. I tried to tell myself that I'm not the one who is up on the score, I'm the one who is down," Andreeva said in an on-court interview. 'In the end I completely forgot the score. I'm happy that I did it because I think that (otherwise) I would be three times more nervous on the match point.' Andreeva became the youngest player since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007 to reach the women's quarterfinals at the grass-court Grand Slam. Advertisement The score wasn't the only thing Andreeva tried to ignore. She was also afraid to look up at the Royal Box, where eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer was sitting with his wife Mirka. 'I really tried my best not to look over there in the box, because I knew that as soon as I would look there I would just completely lose my focus,' she said, before addressing the couple directly. 'Honestly, it means a lot to me that you came and watched my match. It's been one of my dreams to see you in real life. So when I saw both of you I got really, really nervous." The No. 10-seeded Navarro beat defending champion Barbora Krejcikova in the previous round, ensuring there will be yet another first-time champion. It will be the ninth different women's champion in the past nine Wimbledons. Serena Williams was the last repeat champ in 2016. Andreeva will next face Belinda Bencic, who also reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal — 11 years after making her debut at the All England Club. Bencic beat 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (4), 6-4 earlier on No. 1 Court. Advertisement Bencic, who lost in the fourth round on three previous occasions, failed to convert five match points while serving at 5-3 in the second set. But on the sixth one, Alexandrova sent a forehand long. 'For you guys it was entertaining,' Bencic said about that marathon game at 5-3, where Alexandrova finally converted her fourth break point to stay in the match. 'For me it was a big stress.' Bencic's best result at a Grand Slam was reaching the semifinals at the 2019 U.S. Open, where she also reached the quarters on two other occasions. The Tokyo Olympic champion, playing at Wimbledon for the ninth time, had not been into the last eight at any of the other three majors, until now. Bencic missed last year's grass-court Grand Slam tournament while she was on maternity leave, having given birth to her first child — a daughter named Bella — in April 2024. Advertisement She said traveling with a child on tour is still relatively easy while Bella is so young, but that she's spending a lot more time taking pictures when she's at tournaments. 'I'm juggling it like every mom does,' Bencic said. 'So, props to the moms.' Also, No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal by beating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 7-5 on No. 2 Court. Samsonova has yet to drop a set this tournament and will face No. 8 Iga Swiatek, who reached her second Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating Clara Tauson 6-4, 6-1. ___ AP tennis: Mattias Karén, The Associated Press
The Sun
10-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Wimbledon champion Barbara Krejcikova ‘glued to bed for days' after having blood pressure taken during tearful loss
WIMBLEDON champion Barbora Krejcikova has revealed that she was "glued to her bed for days" after her title defence was ended by Emma Navarro in round three. The Czech star, 29, has suffered with several injury issues since triumphing in SW19 12 months ago. 3 Determined to try to defend her title, Krejcikova battled through the first two rounds before being beaten 2-6 6-3 6-4 by Navarro. During the match, the two-time Grand Slam singles champion required her blood pressure to be taken, and was later in floods of tears before serving to stay in the contest. Following her exit, Krejcikova also withdrew from the women's doubles event, in which she was partnering Chan Hao-ching. Opening up on her ordeal, the popular star wrote on Instagram: "This one still hurts… " Wimbledon will always hold a special place in my heart. Coming back after a 6-month break due to a back injury, my goal was simply to step on the grass and make it through the first round. "I did that. And I started to feel more like myself again. That's what made my third round loss so bittersweet. "I felt great mentally, but during the match, my body just stopped responding. At first, I thought I ate too early but nothing helped, not even during the match. "Later, I found out it was a viral infection that glued me to bed for days. 3 WIMBLEDON 2025 LIVE - FOLLOW ALL THE LATEST SCORES AND UPDATES FROM A THRILLING FORTNIGHT AT SW19 "It's what forced me to withdraw from doubles the next day, something that was incredibly hard. "I'm proud of how far I've come, of the fight I showed, and of the journey back. Sabalenka vs Anisimova Wimbledon semi-final suspended for medical emergency as medics rush into crowd to help "And I'm so grateful for the love and energy from the Wimbledon crowd and the fans. You are truly amazing. "See you next year, Wimbledon." Krejcikova went into her Wimbledon defence as the No17 seed in SW19. But following her third round exit, her ranking is set to plummet to No77 when Monday's updated list comes out.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Women's Tennis Star Refuses To Apologize For Having Billionaire Dad
Women's Tennis Star Refuses To Apologize For Having Billionaire Dad originally appeared on The Spun. A women's tennis star from the United States has a billionaire for a father - and she's not apologizing for it. Advertisement Wimbledon is entering its final days. The women's semifinals are set to take place on Thursday morning, with the men's semifinals taking place on Friday. The men's semifinals are particularly loaded, with Carlos Alcaraz set to take on Taylor Fritz in one match and Jannik Sinner set to take on Novak Djokovic in another. American women's tennis star Emma Navarro was hoping to make a deep run, though she fell in the Round of 16 to No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva. Navarro, 24, has been on the rise in recent years. She has a career high world ranking of No. 8 and she reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2024. She also has a billionaire for a father. LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 03: Emma Navarro of the United States during her post-match interview after defeating Naomi Osaka of Japan in the second round on Day Three of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 03, 2024 in London, England (Photo by)Navarro, who grew up in New York, is the daughter of billionaire Ben Navarro. His net worth, according to Forbes, is checking in at about $4.8 billion. Advertisement Ben Navarro is "a former Citigroup vice president" who started Sherman Financial Group "in 1998 and built it into a credit card and debt collection empire," according to Forbes. He's made about 1,043 times as much money as his daughter, who has earned just over $4 million in prize money. While being the daughter of a billionaire likely comes with several advantages, Emma refuses to apologize for it, or suggest that it helped her career in any way. "I don't read anything. I don't read the comments, the articles, any of that stuff. I don't know what the fans are saying. There will be headlines and they kind of mention that which is fine, but I didn't grow up being handed things," she told Tatler of her dad's massive net worth. "We grew up in a sort of traditional way. We'd get up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning and go play tennis… growing up it was a priority that we learnt toughness and we learnt work ethic and how to be intentional and purposeful and live productive lives so I don't love being referred to as whoever with however much money's daughter. It's a label I don't really like." NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 30: Emma Navarro of the United States in action against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the third round on Day 5 of the US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 30, 2024 in New York City (Photo by)Once you're on the court, it doesn't matter how much money you have or who your parents are. That's for sure. Advertisement But did Emma's upbringing have anything to do with where she is today? Women's Tennis Star Refuses To Apologize For Having Billionaire Dad first appeared on The Spun on Jul 10, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
South China Morning Post
09-07-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Meet Mirra Andreeva, the tennis star who beat Emma Navarro at Wimbledon – and didn't realise at first: the 18-year-old works with Nike and Rolex, and her idol Roger Federer was at her game
Mirra Andreeva did not immediately realise she had won the match against world No 10 Emma Navarro at Wimbledon on Monday. 'I kept telling myself I'm not the one who is up on the score, I am the one who is down,' she explained in her on-court interview, per The Independent. 'That helped me to stay focused and in the end I completely forgot the score. I'm happy that I did it because I think I would have been three times more nervous on a match point.' Watched on by her tennis idol Roger Federer in the Royal Box, the 18-year-old who toppled Navarro in just 75 minutes is set to face Belinda Bencic next. Advertisement Mirra Andreeva of Russia celebrates winning her women's singles round against Emma Navarro of the US at the Wimbledon Championships in Wimbledon, Britain, on July 7. Photo: EPA This is not the world No 7's first time on the grass courts. Back in 2023, Andreeva made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon. Though she had a short one-round run last year, she is now staging a dramatic comeback at the All England Club – becoming the youngest female Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 18 years, since Czech Nicole Vaidisova in 2007, notes the WTA website. Russia's Mirra Andreeva (right) shakes hands with the US' Emma Navarro after winning their women's singles fourth round tennis match on the eighth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 7. Photo: AFP Andreeva is also making her mark in women's doubles, playing with Diana Shnaider. She is currently ranked No 13 in the world for doubles and the pair won silver at the Paris Olympics last year Here's what to know about the tennis star powering through Wimbledon. Mirra Andreeva is the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 title Mirra Andreeva poses with the champions trophy after defeating Clara Tauson of Denmark in the singles final on day seven of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, part of the Hologic WTA Tour at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, in February, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
