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Emma Navarro the victim of bizarre officiating at Australian Open
Emma Navarro of the United States. Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Emma Navarro the victim of bizarre officiating at Australian Open

By Sai Mohan  |  Last updated Jan 22, 2025 8:40 AM ET

There hasn't been a more dominant player — male or female — through the first week-and-a-half of the 2025 Australian Open than Iga Swiatek. The World No. 2 has dropped only 14 games (and no sets) en route to the semifinal, the fourth fewest by any player in the Open Era. 

Yet, Swiatek's 6-1, 6-2 win over American Emma Navarro in Wednesday's quarterfinal has been marred by a controversial call. With the score tied 2-2 in the second set, Navarro earned her first break point only to be denied the game due to an umpire gaffe. 

As seen in the replays below, Swiatek sprinted to the net to counter Navarro's drop shot and bunted the ball back over the net to save a break. However, the ball double-bounced and the break point should have been awarded to the Navarro. To make matters worse, the chair umpire denied Navarro's appeal for a VAR review due to a bizarre tournament ruling. Swiatek would close out the fifth game with a backhand winner to take a 3-2 lead at the crucial juncture. 

If the referees made the right call, Navarro would have taken a 3-2 lead with the opportunity to hold serve at 4-2. The match could have played out a lot differently if it went into a deciding third set.

To Navarro's credit, she refused to cite the controversial call for her straight sets loss. The American noted she was unaware of the rule that she had to call for the VAR review immediately after the play. 

"Yeah, ultimately, it's up to the ref to make the call. It is what it is, I guess," she said, via The Tennis Letter. "It's tough to place blame on anybody. It's a tough call. I think the rules should be different that I think we, for sure, should be able to look at it afterwards and decide."

The loss notwithstanding, Navarro has ample reason to be excited about the rest of her 2025 season. The 23-year-old has now reached the business end of a slam for a second consecutive time after her semifinal finish at the 2024 U.S. Open. The World No. 8 is expected to jump a few spots due to her splendid run at Melbourne Park. 

Sai Mohan
Muck Rack

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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