Lexus Nottingham Open 2026: Emma Navarro finding grass-court form with second comeback win

The former world No.8 had to come back from 3-1 down in the deciding set to beat Ukraine’s Yulia Starodubtseva 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4.

It’s her second three-set victory of the week, having also come from behind to knock out qualifier Anna Bondar on Monday.

Navarro battled back from 5-0 down in the second set to take the Ukrainian to a tie-break, only for Starodubtseva to go on and take it 7-3.

The American found herself a break behind in the third as well, but showed the fight and resilience that has seen her reach the semi-finals of the US Open, winning five of the last six games.

“In that position you just want to think about one point at a time,” Navarro said. “It’s not recovering the whole set or how you’re going to win the match. Just get to 15, then to 30, then to 40 and see what happens. I did that pretty well.

“It was a really tough breaker, not my best, but I regrouped, came out and played really tough in the third.

“I’m happy to get the win today and to be able to play some more matches on grass here in Nottingham.”

Grass is a surface the American has excelled on in the past. Navarro reached the final of her first grass-court event in Ilkley three years ago and has since gone on to make two semi-finals in Bad Homburg and a quarter-final at last year’s HSBC Championships.

Her most impressive run on the grass came at Wimbledon in 2024, when she beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, this year’s Roland Garros semi-finalist Diana Shnaider, and then-second seed Coco Gauff to reach her first quarter-final at SW19.

Last year, she also caught the eye at The Championships, knocking out two former champions in Petra Kvitova and Barbora Krejcikova.

Despite the success, Navarro is still looking for a first title on grass, but will be hoping Nottingham can be the tournament where she takes that next step.

“I love playing in the UK, it reminds me of home a little bit,” she said. “The fans love tennis and there are lots of generations out here to watch us play, which is really cool.

“I feel pretty good. It’s always a work in progress; everything is. I’m enjoying the process of trying to get better and I feel good about what I’m doing, and I’m enjoying myself too.”

The last few months have been a welcome return to winning form after a difficult start to the season. Navarro lost 10 of her first 14 matches to start the season before taking a two-and-a-half-month break after Indian Wells due to injury.

Since making her comeback to the tour at the Italian Open, she’s defeated now world No.9 Victoria Mboko to win the WTA 500 in Strasbourg and is through to the final eight at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre.

Navarro will now have a day off to recover before returning for a quarter-final against either Katie Volynets or Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

You can watch the women's event at the Lexus Nottingham Open on BBC digital services, with the men's event live on Challenger TV.