Who Are Emma Navarro's Parents? All About Mom Kelly and Billionaire Dad Ben Navarro Skyler Caruso, Caroline BlairAugust 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty ; Tim Clayton/Getty Emma Navarro on the sixth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on July 5, 2025 in London, England ; Ben Nava...
- - Who Are Emma Navarro's Parents? All About Mom Kelly and Billionaire Dad Ben Navarro
Skyler Caruso, Caroline BlairAugust 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM
HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty ; Tim Clayton/Getty
Emma Navarro on the sixth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on July 5, 2025 in London, England ; Ben Navarro and Kelly Navarro during the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships on July 5th, 2025, in London, England. -
Professional tennis player Emma Navarro's parents are Kelly and Ben Navarro
The former college athlete has been playing the sport with the support of her parents since she was a child
Kelly and Ben Navarro are billionaires and philanthropists who raised Emma and her three siblings in South Carolina
Emma Navarro's parents, Kelly and Ben Navarro, have been by their daughter's side throughout her tennis career.
The professional athlete, who is competing in the 2025 US Open after being a semifinalist the year before, started playing tennis when she was a child, before competing on the University of Virginia team.
Emma comes from a tennis-loving family. However, the American player is the only family member to go pro in the sport.
"As a fan, father and business owner, tennis has brought so much to our family," Ben told Post and Courier in 2020. "Junior tennis has provided a place for our children to learn a work ethic, develop friendship through shared struggle, and learn to handle disappointment, defeat, and sometimes even unfairness.
As of August 2025, Emma is ranked No. 11 in the world, per the WTA. She previously dropped a few spots after losing to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro at the French Open in May 2025 and losing to Mirra Andreeva at Wimbledon 2025.
Here's everything to know about Emma Navarro's parents, Kelly and Ben Navarro.
They raised their kids in South Carolina
Robert Prange/Getty
Emma Navarro at the Miami Open in March 2024.
Ben is from Massachusetts, though he and his wife Kelly raised their four children — Emma, Meggie, Earl and Owen — in South Carolina. Emma, who was actually born in New York City in 2001, was a highly-touted junior tennis star in Charleston in her adolescence.
"Charleston is my favorite city in the world," the tennis star told Garden & Gun in April 2024. "I love to walk around downtown and see the houses and say good morning or good evening to the people."
Starting in the fourth grade, Emma got "serious" about tennis. "I would get up at around 5:45 a.m and go play tennis for about an hour before school," she recalled to Charleston Day School in an "Alumni Spotlight" interview.
Emma's brothers maintain private lives, but her sister, Meggie, is a student athlete who plays tennis at the University of Virginia. The five-star recruit is in the class of 2026.
Ben is a billionaire businessman and philanthropist
Ben is the founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group. According to Forbes, his net worth is $3.2 billion as of August 2025.
Per the outlet, Ben — a former Citigroup vice president — spent over $350 million buying up property around Charleston, including a stadium and the city's biggest hotel since 2021. He also tried to buy the Carolina Panthers in 2018, but lost out to hedge fund mogul David Tepper.
As for his tennis investments, Ben — through his company Beemok Sports LLC — bought Charleston Tennis LLC (owners of the Charleston Open) in 2019. He also spent upwards of $300 million in 2022 to purchase the Western & Southern Open, per Forbes.
Business endeavors aside, Ben is a philanthropist who founded the nonprofit Meeting Street Schools. He also donated $1.25 million to the College of Charleston in March 2021.
His wife, Kelly, keeps a lower profile, though she is often seen courtside at their daughter Emma's matches.
They've always supported Emma's tennis dreams
AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali
Ben and Kelly Navarro react after daughter Emma defeats Coco Gauff in a fourth round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London on July 7, 2024.
Ben and Kelly are stand staples at Navarro's matches, and have been since she was young. The professional previously recalled her dad's "favorite phrase" was "never give up," a motto that she said "has shaped my attitude toward anything I do, even today."
When Navarro made her debut at the 2019 Charleston Open (the tournament Ben owns), the father-daughter duo spoke with the Tennis Channel about the shared moment.
"I'd be lying if I didn't say I lost a couple nights sleep going up into the tournament because it's the first time she had a chance to play on a stage like that, and you just don't know," Ben said at the time, adding, "I know if I had to do it I probably wouldn't have been able to swing the racket."
The proud dad concluded, "If you make me talk about it too much, I'll start crying right here on the set."
Ben inspires Emma's mindset on and off the court
Robert Prange/Getty
Emma Navarro of the United States celebrates defeating Coco Gauff of the United States in the fourth round on Day Seven of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 07, 2024 in London, England
Whether Emma is winning or losing, she's a believer in knowing she's "exactly where I need to be." She told the Tennis Channel in April 2024 that her dad inspires much of that mindset.
"I gotta give a lot of credit to my dad. He's probably the smartest guy I know and has dropped a lot of knowledge and wisdom on my siblings and I over the years," Emma said. "He's taught me a bunch about the perspective I need to take."
on People
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Astro Blog
Full Article on Source: Astro Blog
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities