Charleston’s Emma Navarro reaches Nottingham tennis final

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND — Charleston’s Emma Navarro reached the first grass-court final of her career with a 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Viktorija Golubic at the Nottingham Open on June 20.

Navarro, who won her first clay court title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg on May 23, has continued her resurgence after taking time off earlier in the season due to health issues.

The third-seeded Navarro, who was high as No. 8 in the world and is now ranked No. 25, will face Marie Bouzkova in Sunday’s final. Bouzkova, the No. 4 seed, reached the championship with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Karolina Pliskova.

“I’m enjoying myself on the court and playing some good tennis, too,” Navarro said on the court after the match.

Against the Swiss qualifier on Saturday, Navarro stormed out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set. But the 76th-ranked Golubic battled back to force a tiebreaker.

With the score 5-5 in the tiebreaker, a medical emergency in the crowd paused the action. When play was able to resume, Navarro forced an error out of Golubic before taking the first set.

In the second set, the 25-year-old Navarro rode the momentum to close out the match, finishing off the victory in 2 hours, 10 minutes.

“Really tough battle today, a lot of really tough points. Wasn’t easy being up 5-2 in the first, losing three games in a row, and then getting to 6-all,” Navarro said. “I want to shout out the nice lady that couldn’t stay for the second set, I just want to thank her. I think she won me that set, so I hope she’s OK and recovering quickly.”

Navarro’s matchup at 7 a.m. Sunday (Tennis Channel) against the 27-year-old Bouzkova will be the first-ever meeting between the players.