The US open mixed doubles has had some disappointments this year. After the star-studded opener with Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu versus Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula, the much-hyped duo Alcaraz and Raducanu were knocked out of the tournament. In addition, and in terms of star power, many other top-tier players have opted out of the Mixed Doubles. Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauf and top seed Emma Navarro were all meant to play but ended up dropping out for different reasons, Sinner’s being illness. Navarro was in fact paired with Men’s singles top seed Jannik Sinner, and when she dropped out he ended up being paired with Kateřina Siniaková. Though Sinner eventually dropped out anyway due to illness, Navarro, who opted out to play in a WTA 500 event at Monterey, didn’t end up having the best of luck.

When asked about having pulled out of the Mixed Doubles tournament despite being seemingly excited about the pairing early on, Navarro stressed her match-focused approach, building up to the final chance to win a women’s singles title in a grand slam this year.

“I think I’m kind of a match-play type of player; I like to get matches in. I think I learn the most about myself on the match court.” Navarro said, stressing the importance of her self-learning leading up to the Women’s Singles title, adding, “It’s the toughest environment to be in and the most stressful. So, I think I get the most out of myself and the most feedback when I’m in the arena.” Well, hopefully Navarro did learn from the loss to Alycia Parks in the second round!

Emma Navarro, who as a top seed was waived past round one, ended up losing to USA’s Alycia Parks, the current 71st seed. Parks held her own the whole game, and knocked out the first seed in her first hurdle! “Parks stuns Navarro, the top seed dumped out at the first hurdle.” The commentator said, adding, “Parks played with purpose, poise and a pinch of defiance. Monterey just met its meteor. Into a fifth career WTA quarter final. 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 after two and a quarter hours. Power prevails she didn’t waiver. Parks played on her terms and blew the draw wide open. Five breaks of the Navarro serve and only dropping three times herself.” So surely, that’s given Navarro a lot to learn from as she heads into her next match.

How the rest of the year is looking for both Emma Navarro and Alycia Parks

Four days after the conclusion of the Mixed Doubles tournament, the singles tournament will begin, with the schedules to be released soon. It is yet to be seen whether the short stint at Monterey was enough of a learning experience for Emma Navarro and offered her the preparation she needed to head into the singles tournament at the grand slam. Surely, this is a slam Navarro has her eyes set on, as she has yet to win a US Open title.

Alycia Parks, on the other hand, is heading into her fifth career WTA quarterfinalwith the confidence of having knocked out Navarro and the title of ‘Monterey’s meteor’; this could well be the beginning of a new legacy to watch out for. Grand Slam hopes are still a while away, due to the limits of the draw, but anything can happen. Hey, Venus Williams is playing this year!

We’ll know soon enough what the schedule for the women’s and men’s singles tournament looks like, and this will give fans a sense of how the world’s top seeds played in the preparatory tournaments vs. the focus they put into the grand slam. It’ll be interesting to see what both Emma Navarro and Jannik Sinner do when they hit the blue courts!