Emma Navarro recently played the Hong Kong 125 Open (Image: Getty)
Emma Navarro has defended her decision to compete in the recent WTA 125 event in Hong Kong.
The world No. 8 received backlash when she entered the draw of the lower-tier event, worth £87k ($115k) and equivalent to an ATP Challenger.
Top 10 players are prevented from competing in WTA 250 tournaments so fans were confused to see Navarro receive a wildcard into an even smaller event. But she explained why she wanted to compete.
Navarro is back in action on the main WTA Tour this week, at the 1000-point event in Wuhan. With the race to the season-ending championships heating up, this could be an important tournament for the American.
The world No. 8 has had a tough Asian swing so far. After losing her opening match in Beijing, she took a wildcard into the Hong Kong 125 Open. The decision raised eyebrows, as the top 10 are rarely allowed to play higher 250 events unless they are a home player or defending champion.
While some thought it was a last-ditch attempt to get more ranking points for the race to the WTA Finals, Navarro quickly shut down speculation and defended her choice to stay match fit.
“The points in Hong Kong actually didn’t even count towards the race to the Finals,” she explained.
Emma Navarro explained her decision as she arrived in Wuhan (Image: Getty)
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“It was more just I was going to have a week and a half of training after I lost in Beijing, which is a long time to just be training. I wanted to go and try to stay match-ready. Yeah, that was my reasoning for playing Hong Kong.”
Three players have already qualified for the WTA Finals while three more of the eight spots seem locked in. Navarro is one of several players battling for the last two places in Riyadh.
She has earned 3,568 points so far in 2024 while Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng is hot on her heels with 3,460. Fellow American Danielle Collins has 3,177 after a strong start to the year.
Navarro is hoping to confirm her spot with a successful week in Wuhan, where she is making her debut. She added: “Yeah, I’d love to make a run.
“I’m looking forward to trying to make the WTA Finals at the end of the year. That’s kind of the goal for me right now. Yeah, there’s just a few tournaments left. Going to try to make a final push towards the end of the season.”
Even if her run at the 125 event in Hong Kong did count, it would have had little impact. Navarro lost in the quarter-final, meaning her run was worth 27 points.
She also only took home £3k for reaching the last eight. The total prize purse at the tournament was £87k, while eventual champion Ajla Tomljanovic pocketed £6,500.
But Navarro doesn’t need to worry about the money. The world No. 8’s dad, Ben Navarro, is a billionaire who founded Sherman Financial Group. He now owns two tennis tournaments – the Charleston Open and the joint ATP-WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati.