Emilio Nava (born December 2, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 124 achieved on April 15, 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 187 achieved on October 28, 2024.

Emilio Nava
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Born (2001-12-02) December 2, 2001 (age 22)
West Hills, California, U.S.
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro2018
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachOscar Martinez
Prize moneyUS $931,274
Singles
Career record3–16
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 124 (April 15, 2024)
Current rankingNo. 213 (November 11, 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ3 (2023, 2024)
French Open1R (2023)
WimbledonQ2 (2024)
US Open2R (2022)
Doubles
Career record4–2
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 187 (October 28, 2024)
Current rankingNo. 192 (November 11, 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open3R (2024)
Last updated on: November 15, 2024.

He reached two Grand Slam Boys' finals at the 2019 Australian Open[1] and at the 2019 US Open losing to Lorenzo Musetti and to Jonáš Forejtek respectively.

Early life and background

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Nava is the son of Olympic sprinter Eduardo Nava and professional tennis player Xóchitl Escobedo, both of whom are originally from Mexico. He is also the cousin of fellow pro tennis player Ernesto Escobedo.[2] His brother, Eduardo Nava is also a professional tennis player who played college tennis at TCU and Wake Forest University.[3]

Professional career

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2019: ATP main draw debut

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Nava made his ATP main draw debut at the 2019 Abierto Mexicano Telcel after receiving a wildcard into the singles main draw.[4][5] He lost to Mackenzie McDonald in the first round.

2021: Masters 1000, Grand Slam debuts

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At the 2021 Miami Open, Nava qualified for the main draw to make his debut at ATP Masters 1000 level but lost in the first round to Lloyd Harris.[6]

Nava made his Grand Slam debut at the 2021 US Open after being given a wildcard for the singles main draw. He lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the first round.[7]

2022: First Challenger title & Major win, top 200

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At the 2022 Shymkent Challenger, Nava won his first Challenger title after defeating Sebastian Fanselow in the final.[8]

At the US Open as a wildcard, he defeated John Millman in the first round for his first win at a Major event.[9]

2023: First Masters win, French Open debut, top 150

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Ranked No. 182, he received a wildcard for the main draw of the 2023 Miami Open for a consecutive year, recording his first Masters 1000 win over John Isner in straight sets with two tiebreaks. He lost to Taylor Fritz in 58 minutes. He also received a wildcard for the Masters in Madrid.

He made his main draw debut at the 2023 French Open as a qualifier, losing to Roberto Carballés Baena. He won the Challenger title in Modena and moved to a new career-high ranking of No. 168 on 3 July 2023.[10] He qualified for the 2023 US Open but lost to fifth seed and former US Open finalist Casper Ruud.[11]

2024: Top 125 debut

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He qualified for the 2024 Dallas Open defeating compatriot Aidan Mayo and Marco Trungelliti in the qualifying competition, before losing to Michael Mmoh in the first round of the main draw draw. In doubles, at the same tournament, he reached the semifinals with Ben Shelton. He received a wildcard for the 2024 Delray Beach Open.[12] He also qualified for the 2024 Los Cabos Open defeating wildcard Nicolás Mejía and again alternate player Aidan Mayo. He scored his third ATP win and second outside the Majors, over wildcard Diego Schwartzman.[13]

At the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, in the first qualifying round, he saved seven match points to defeat compatriot Steve Johnson in what was the last singles match of Johnson’s career. He lost to another compatriot Denis Kudla in the next round.[14] At the next Masters, the 2024 Miami Open, he reached the main draw after qualifying with wins over Quentin Halys and Yoshihito Nishioka. As a result he reached the top 125 in the rankings on 1 April 2024.

ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals

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Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (2–1)
ITF WTT (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (3–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 May 2022 Shymkent Challenger, Kazakhstan Challenger Clay   Sebastian Fanselow 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Win 2–0 Jun 2023 Modena Challenger, Italy Challenger Clay   Titouan Droguet 6–7(5–7), 7–6(8–6), 6–4
Loss 2–1 Aug 2023 Golden Gate Open, USA Challenger Hard   Constant Lestienne 6–7(4–7), 2–6
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2021 M15 La Nucia, Spain WTT Clay   Nikolás Sánchez Izquierdo 7–6(10–8), 7–5
Loss 1–1 Apr 2021 M25 Reus, Spain WTT Clay   Matteo Martineau 4–6, 6–2, 6–7(4–7)

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
ITF WTT (1–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–1 Sep 2020 M15 Sintra, Portugal WTT Hard   Eduardo Nava   Sebastian Fanselow
  Maik Steiner
6–3, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Sep 2020 M15 Castelo Branco, Portugal WTT Hard   Eduardo Nava   Mateus Alves
  Igor Marcondes
6–7(4–7), 7–5, [8–10]

Junior Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2019 Australian Open Hard   Lorenzo Musetti 6–4, 2–6, 6–7(12–14)
Loss 2019 US Open Hard   Jonáš Forejtek 7–6(7–4), 0–6, 2–6

Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2018 US Open Hard   Axel Nefve   Adrian Andreev
  Anton Matusevich
2–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Loss 2019 Australian Open Hard   Cannon Kingsley   Jonáš Forejtek
  Dalibor Svrčina
6–7(5–7), 4–6

References

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  1. ^ "Australian Open junior winner reveals conversation with Novak Djokovic". Tennis World USA. 27 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Emilio Nava Credits Family With Tennis Success". southerncaliforniatennis.org. Archived from the original on 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  3. ^ "TENNIS.COM PODCAST: EMILIO NAVA ON LEAPING FROM JUNIORS TO THE PROS". tennis.com.
  4. ^ "Emilio Nava, la promesa 'mexicana' del tenis sin equipo de Liga MX". mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 23 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Acapulco, Dubai and Sao Paulo 2019 Scouting Report". ATP Tour.
  6. ^ "Harris Earns First ATP Masters 1000 Win". ATP Tour.
  7. ^ "Sinner Records First US Open Victory". ATP Tour.
  8. ^ "Nava Notches Shymkent Challenger Crown". Tennis TourTalk.
  9. ^ "Emilio Nava closing a promising year".
  10. ^ "Americans Nava, Kypson Win Challenger Titles".
  11. ^ https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2023-08-26/meet_the_2023_us_open_mens_qualifiers.html [bare URL]
  12. ^ "Nava on 'putting the pieces together' & what he learned from Alcaraz".
  13. ^ https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1760134452552859871 [bare URL]
  14. ^ "Indian Wells Qualifying Awards: Debut Breakthroughs, Resilient Veterans".
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