Navarro’s ‘rookie rap’ takes BJK Cup by storm

Just call her “Eminem-Varro.” A historically hidden Billie Jean King Cup team tradition quickly turned viral for the fast-rising Emma Navarro over the weekend ahead of the Americans’ win over visiting Belgium at the USTA National Campus.

Navarro, named to the U.S. squad for the first time by first-year captain Lindsay Davenport, was the latest in a long line of American players who’ve had a baptism by fire by having to perform a rap as a part of their official introduction to the U.S. team. But, over the years, the talent of those who came before her usually stayed hidden, with the rap typically being performed behind closed doors.

Not this year: As a part of the programming at the tie’s official welcome reception, Navarro instead stepped up to the mic and spit fire in front of both teams, and dignitaries representing the two countries.

Watch the rap in full in below — but, as Navarro herself joked, “bear with [her]if it’s not what you hear on the radio.”

Navarro’s “bars,” per an Instagram comment by Ben Shelton, quickly took the internet by storm. In the words of Coco Gauff, Navarro “ate.” (That’s slang for doing a great job.) Clervie Ngounoue, a practice partner for the weekend, agreed, declaring that she “left absolutely no crumbs.”

“What a performance!” five-time U.S. BJK Cup team member Shelby Rogers wrote. “But wow, so happy mine never got posted.”

But the tune didn’t just go viral on social media — and spawn a new nickname for the 22-year-old by ATP pro Brandon Holt, son of WTA Legend Tracy Austin. It also gave fans, and even Navarro’s own teammates, a glimpse into what makes her tick. Fairly unknown to those at the top of the game before soaring up the rankings over the last year-plus, the former NCAA champion’s earnest embrace of a silly moment won herself a lot of fans not only in the stands, but in the locker room.

“It’s really cool from a camaraderie perspective, like you really feel like you make friends, just understand people from a different perspective than you do when you’re on tour,” Taylor Townsend said Saturday. “I said three words to Emma this whole entire time before this week. I’ve only said three words to her, which is, ‘Hey, how are you?’

“To see her, get a chance to know who she is, see her personality, I’m like, ‘You are awesome.'”