American tennis star Emma Navarro suffered a shock second round defeat at the Cincinnati Open – just days after the tournament unveiled £193million upgrades largely paid for by her father.
Navarro, the world No 11, was stunned by German qualifier Ella Seidel at the tournament on Sunday.
She was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in her first singles match, having received a bye through the first round of the event.
Navarro is the daughter of American billionaire investment tycoon, Ben Navarro, who is worth a reported £3billion.
The 62-year-old had built his billionaire empire thanks to numerous business ventures, most notably being the founder and owner of Sherman Financial Group, which has assets such as Credit One Bank.
In 2022, Beemok Capital – the family office of Navvarro – announced it had bought the Western and Southern Open.
Emma Navarro suffered defeat in the second round of the Cincinnati Open on Sunday
Navarro was beaten in her opening match of the event, which has had £193m of upgrades
Navarro’s father Ben, who owns the event, paid close to £100m in upgrading the tournament
He then confirmed in 2023 that the tournament would remain in Cincinnati for at least the next 25 years and confirmed plans to upgrade the ATP and WTA tour event.
In the last 12 months, the Lindner Family Tennis Center has undergone large scale upgrades which has seen a £193million renovation and expansion.
Navarro reportedly covered half of the cost himself, with local governments responsible for the remainder.
The upgrades having included a new 2,300-seat sunked stadium, with the tournament doubling in size with 13 new courts.
The Cincinnati Open has grown in scale from a 20 acre site up to 40 acres.
Investment has also included the addition of a new clubhouse, which includes a restaurant and lounge area for players, as well as an indoor tennis centre and operations centre.
Women’s world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka was among the players to hail the upgrades to the event, which she described as ‘insane’.
‘Oh my god, it’s insane,’ said Sabalenka.
Billionaire businessman Ben Navarro has been a major backer of his daughter’s career
The major redevelopment of the Cincinnati Open was labelled as ‘insane’ by Aryna Sabalenka
A 2,300-capacity sunked stadium is among the main upgrades at the the tournament
The size of the Lindner Family Tennis Center has doubled while there are now 13 new courts
Ben Navarro and his wife Kelly watched on as Emma made the fourth round at Wimbledon last month
‘Honestly, when I first came here I was like, “what’s going on?” I was like, “where am I?”. It took me a little while to feel comfortable in the previous venue and now it’s like we are in a completely different tournament.
‘But honestly I love it so much. It’s more space. You feel a bit free and the locker room is bigger. You are not, like, on top of another player.
‘So it’s insane what they have been able to do in the last year. I am just shocked and I like it.’
Ben Navarro, who also owns the Charleston Open, has also been a major supporter of his daughter Emma’s tennis career.
Ben and his wife Kelly had watched their daughter at Wimbledon last month as she reached the fourth round, falling just short of matching her quarter-final run last year.
Navarro has struggled for form in recent weeks, with the loss on Sunday following an early exit at the Canadian Open.
The American star and her younger sister Margaret were also handed a wildcard entry into the women’s doubles tournament at the Cincinnati Open.
The pair were comfortably beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Giuliana Olmos and Aldila Sutjiadi.