At times in her Charleston Open second-round match, Emma Navarro appeared to need to get behind in her service games against Hailey Baptiste. She often found herself down love-30 only to rally back. Was the trick that Navarro suddenly played better, or was Baptiste simply unable to finish her fellow American off?
When Navarro absolutely needed to make a shot, she could. But she didn't seem to need it until the most critical points of the match. In the end, her 6-4 6-3 win looked a lot easier than it was. Three times in the second set, Navarro found herself down love-40 while serving. That is no way to have a great career.
But it was good enough for Navarro to beat Baptiste. She showed why she is a dangerous player, but likely not good enough to steal a Grand Slam yet. She has good skills, but she needs to control matches better, especially against players she is clearly better than.
Emma Navarro moves on to round three of the Charleston Open after defeating Hailey Baptiste
Baptiste is a sneaky good player, but she has her limitations. These might be mental as much as physical. When she had multiple chances to take back control of the match, she couldn't.
That is not to say that the match did not have its moments of brilliant tennis. If one had left the room after Navarro began most of her service games only to return a few points, they might have witnessed why Navarro is likely to hover around the WTA top ten in the foreseeable future.
Her drop shots are magnificent and a real weapon against any player. This is especially true on clay. This implies that she could make a deep run at the French Open. To do so, however, she needs to control matches from the start and not constantly try to claw her way back in nearly every game.