Was Emma a popular name among tennis families on both sides of the Atlantic in the early aughts? Two decades later, the American Emma, who is 23, will meet the British Emma, who is 22, for the first time.

The American Emma—Navarro—is the favorite. She’s ranked 10th and has an 11-6 record in 2025, while Raducanu is ranked 60th and is 4-6 this season. That might seem like progress to Raducanu and her fans; even if her record is so-so, at least she has been healthy for a few months straight now. While has shown a couple of glimpses of her 2021 self in beating Maria Sakkari and Ekaterina Alexandrova, she hasn’t been able to sustain any top-level consistency for long.

The good news for Raducanu is that Navarro, despite her winning record, hasn’t been the player she was a season ago. Yes, she won a title in Merida, and made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, but there have also been some perplexing losses—to Leylah Fernandez in Doha, Sorana Cirstea in Dubai, and Donna Vekic last week in Indian Wells. Navarro doesn’t get a ton of free points on her serve, which means everything else has to be extra sharp for her to succeed. That was true during her breakout 2024, but not during her follow-up 2025 thus far.

Still, in the battle of the Emmas, Navarro is the cleaner ball-striker, better mover, and more complete player. Winner: Navarro—Steve Tignor

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