Emma Navarro ends 2026 season to focus on recovery from health problems

Emma Navarro has ended her 2026 season to continue addressing long-running health problems, with a return at next year's Australian Open her stated aim. Reuters reported that the 25-year-old American disclosed diagnoses of relative energy deficiency in sport, known as RED-S, and Hashimoto's hypothyroidism in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

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Navarro said she would use the remaining months of the year to refine her medication and nutrition arrangements in the hope of recovering fully. Her decision follows a run to the US Open quarter-finals earlier this month. The proposed Australian Open return is a target, rather than confirmation that her recovery will be complete by then.

According to BBC Sport, Navarro is ranked 24th after reaching a career-high eighth in 2024. She won the Strasbourg Open in May, her first title in more than a year, but had lost nine of her first 13 matches of 2026 and withdrawn from Charleston at the end of March as the health issues affected her season.

In her account, Navarro described struggling even while her results and ranking improved. BBC Sport reported that she lost about 14kg across 2023 and 2024 and experienced persistent hunger. Her first WTA Tour title in Hobart also coincided with unusual anger and irritability on court, feelings she said she tried to keep hidden from those watching her compete.

The difficulties continued through 2025, with Navarro describing headaches, dizziness, fatigue, anxiety and problems concentrating. BBC Sport reported that consultations with doctors, nutritionists and other specialists helped her recognise she had been under-fuelling for much of that period. She was diagnosed with RED-S towards the end of 2025 and subsequently learned she also had Hashimoto's hypothyroidism.

Reuters reported that Navarro had changed her diet and increased her energy intake over the past year, with improvement coming gradually. She said regaining weight had brought renewed energy for training, competition and life away from tennis. Despite that progress, she is stepping away from matches for the rest of 2026 while continuing to work on her recovery.