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Five years ago, Emma Navarro lost in the Roland Garros junior girls’ singles final to Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

But she and partner Chloe Beck did win the doubles, beating Zheng Qinwen and her partner in the quarterfinals. Hmmm … 🙂

But having watched her a lot because of the number of times she faced the Canadians, we would … not have predicted the absolutely transformation, the incredible amount of hard work that Navarro put in to be where she is now.

Here’s what she looked like then.

Navarro, now 23, will be in the top 10 next Monday – No. 8, if she loses her semifinal, No. 7 if she makes the final and No. 6 if she wins it all.

(UPDATE: Sabalenka won it, 6-3, 7-6 (2). A top-shelf match in which Navarro acquitted herself terrifically in her first major semifinal).

How has she done it? She doesn’t travel with a big entourage. She’s had the same coach, former college standout Peter Ayers, since she was 15.

She spent two years in college after the juniors, knowing she wasn’t ready and unsure if she even wanted to do it.

And once she did, she realized that being a … well, a lot of euphemisms have delicately been used, but let’s just call it what it is, “pusher” – just wasn’t going to cut it in the pros.

Pegula’s long road to the US Open semis

Follow the plan

It’s fairly simple, according to Navarro: they had a plan. They stuck to it. She got herself in absolutely ridiculous shape. She played almost every tournament she could play, big and small – which will shield her, next year, from any big drops in rankings if she doesn’t duplicate her results and will remove the pressure.

She basically played a quick game of competitive catchup all year. And in so doing, tested out her fitness as she remained impressively healthy.

And here she is, playing favorite Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open semis without even having lost a set in the tournament.

Here’s what their first meeting, at Indian Wells earlier this year and won by Navarro, looked like.