BY HOWARD FENDRICH
LONDON (AP) — To be sure, Emma Navarro used clean tennis to defeat Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon on Wednesday: just five unforced errors compared to 16 winners; zero break points faced; a 4-for-4 success rate at the net.
What else helped Navarro reach the third round at the All England Club for the first time by eliminating Osaka — a four-time major champion and former No. 1 — 6-4, 6-1 in under an hour at Centre Court? Little reminders the 23-year-old American types into her cellphone’s notes app before each match.
“That’s an atmosphere that could easily overwhelm me, or overwhelm any player, and I spent just a good amount of time preparing myself mentally for the emotions and the nerves I was going to feel. Then once I got out there, I just felt really at home,” said Navarro, who won the 2021 NCAA singles title
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