Nava: Why the American has 'something special in his tennis'

Shortly after turning professional, an 18-year-old Ernesto Escobedo was looking for someone to practise with on clay in California. The future No. 67 player in the PIF ATP Rankings invited his cousin, then-13-year-old Emilio Nava, for a session at Match Point Academy in Santa Ana.

“There was one story that I’ll never forget,” Escobedo told ATPTour.com. “We had one of the best practices ever, it was a three, four-hour practice. He kept up like no other and ever since then I just felt like he had something special in his tennis, 100 per cent. And on top of that, it was a very competitive practice. I was 18, he was 13. To see that at a very young age was cool.”

Not only did Escobedo become a Top 100 star, but his cousin is closing in on the mark himself. Nava, now 23, is No. 122 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and climbing.

The American can make further progress Wednesday evening when he faces 10th seed Holger Rune on Court Philippe-Chatrier. It is safe to say he will bring his competitive spirit to the clay major’s centre court.

“By special I don’t mean by how he was hitting the ball, but just his work ethic on the court,” Escobedo said. "He competes very, very well and is just super eager. I think that is what makes someone special. Of course he had great shots at that age, but he also had the competitive drive and things that make a great player great.”

The son of two Olympians — mother, Xochitl (tennis), and father, Eduardo (track) — Nava has spent plenty of time around athletes from whom he learned the value of hard work. That carried over to his tennis journey.

Near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Nava moved to Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy in Spain, where he trained with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz. He kept his base there until the end of the 2023 season, and Escobedo believes that was “a very important part in his career”.

“I think every player has their own journey. Some players like to be home, some players like to go somewhere else and train, but just the commitment that he had over there for four or five years I think shows who he is as a person and a player,” Escobedo said. “[He] is super committed to his tennis and to his craft, and seeing him do well at this stage of his career is awesome. Just seeing a cousin playing well and on the Tour giving their best, it’s awesome.”

Nava said last year of the experience: "I knew I needed to make some kind of sacrifice and some kind of decision to see if I want to make it, to see if I'm able to make it."

The California native, who upon departing Spain first moved to Orlando, home of the USTA National Campus, now trains under Argentine coach Diego Cristin. That partnership has been successful, with the American enjoying the best season of his career. He won three consecutive ATP Challenger Tour events earlier this year in Asuncion, Concepcion and Sarasota, all on clay, before making a fourth final in Tallahassee.

The big-hitting, athletic right-hander will bring plenty of confidence into his showdown with Rune. It will be the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, but they met in 2021 at an ITF World Tennis Tour event, which Rune won in three sets.

“He's very explosive player, very aggressive player. Yeah, we know each other a bit from juniors,” Rune said. “Big serve, as I remember. He wants to go big on a lot of shots.”