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Madison Keys and Emma Navarro meet for a third-round French Open clash this weekend, pitting the tenured WTA pro against the billionaire upstart.
By Declan Walsh
Navarro and Keys meet in the third round (Image: Getty Images)
Emma Navarro and Madison Keys will face off in the French Open third round on Saturday, sharing a nationality but reaching the pinnacle of tennis from entirely different worlds.
The 29-year-old Keys has achieved success in many of the sport's most prestigious competitions, advancing to at least the quarterfinals in the Australian Open, French Open and US Open over the last decade. Meanwhile, the younger Navarro launches an assault on the tennis world from secure footing, the daughter of billionaire businessman Ben Navarro and is herself worth over $3 billion.
Here's a look at each of these accomplished tennis stars and what to expect Wednesday.
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Madison Keys
Keys enjoyed a secure upbringing in her own right, with a fair few athletic genes mixed in. The Illinois native was born to parents Rick and Christine, both attorneys, while her father played basketball at Division III Augustana College.
The current Florida resident was inspired by the dominant success of Venus Williams, moving to the Sunshine State at a young age and turning professional by her 14th birthday. Keys first cracked the WTA's world top-100 before adulthood, and her first breakthrough performance came in 2015 when she surged to the Australian Open semifinals.
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Keys made the US Open finals in 2017 (Image: Getty Images)
Keys has missed just three tournament singles since 2013, with her most successful performance coming in the 2017 US Open. She advanced to the Finals at the iconic Arthur Ashe but fell thoroughly to fellow American Sloane Stephens in straight sets: 3-6, 0-6.
Emma Navarro
The Italian-American star marks a third-straight generation of exceptional Navarros in the sporting and business world. Her grandfather, Frank, was a national champion and Sugar Bowl winner during a four-year football coach at Maryland and became a legendary coach in the Northeast, overseeing nearly 200 games at Williams, Columbia and Princeton from 1955-1984.
Navarro defeated the world No. 2 this year (Image: Getty Images)
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Father Ben was one of Frank's eight children and graduated from the University of Rhode Island. He joined Citigroup in 1988, rising to become vice president, and later became the founder and owner of Credit One Bank, a credit card issuer targeting subprime borrowers. Ben has also made a number of significant investments into the world of tennis, owning the Live to Play Tennis Club and Charleston Tennis LLC in South Carolina.
Navarro herself was born in New York City but raised in Charleston, South Carolina and remained in the South to attend college at the University of Virginia. She immediately starred for the Hoos, winning the NCAA Championships singles title as just a freshman and left the university as a sophom*ore to begin her professional career.
Her short stint as a pro has already produced a number of intriguing highlights. Navarro bested world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka to reach the WTA 1000, becoming the first American to do so since Serena Williams in 2001, and was seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament this year as well.
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