The coach behind the champion

Great athletes don’t rise alone. 

 

Behind every champion is a coach who sees the potential before the world does, someone who sharpens her strengths, challenges her limits, and fuels her belief. 

 

For world No. 8 tennis star Emma Navarro, that person is Peter Ayers. 

 

For nearly a decade, the Daniel Island-based coach has been the steady hand guiding Navarro from junior competition to the sport’s grandest stages. 

 

Now, as Navarro prepares to take on the Credit One Charleston Open as one of the WTA’s top players, Ayers opens up about their journey and his role in shaping one of tennis’s most promising stars.

 

“It’s been a privilege, honestly,” Ayers said. “Day in and day out, to watch her go about her craft on a daily basis, so intentionally and methodically, patiently, persistently – it’s a beautiful thing.”

 

Ayers, a former professional tennis player himself, knows the game from both sides. He had a successful junior career, playing collegiately at Duke University, and competed on the ATP Futures and Challenger tours. While he modestly downplays his professional playing days, his experience has profoundly shaped his approach to coaching. 

 

“Just the experience of spending a life in sports – not just in tennis, but in multiple sports – and having a lot of great influences and great coaches in my life, I think, is what lit the fire to do the kinds of things that I’m able to do now.”

 

Ayers and Navarro’s story began when the former world No. 922 player first saw an 11-year-old Navarro play. Fate played its part when he later joined LTP Tennis, a training facility owned by Emma’s father, Ben Navarro, and Charleston Tennis LLC. 

 

Though Ayers had previously worked with top-tier players, moving to Daniel Island meant starting from scratch, but he found a prodigy in Navarro, and together they forged an extraordinary partnership.

 

“We’re right at nine years together this spring,” he said. “I’m just so grateful to have had the opportunity to start with a player and have a vision and to be able to carry it through to this extent.”

 

What makes their partnership so successful? Ayers said it all boils down to patience and trust. 

 

“There’s going to be great moments, and there’s going to be moments that test you,” he said. “I’m very proud of the way that we’ve met the moments that have tested us the most and been able to come through them even stronger than we were before.” 

 

Navarro’s development has been a team effort, with Ayers playing a key role in refining her game while collaborating with other specialists. 

 

“She has a wonderful physical trainer who’s helped show her the path to becoming the best athlete she can be. We’ve worked together to bridge that gap between what you can do in the gym and how you can apply it on the court,” he explained. “You know, it’s not only about keeping her healthy and her body right but helping her tap into elements in her body that I don’t think she even knew were there.”

 

On the court, Ayers has helped Navarro, now 23, harness her strengths rather than emulate other players. “What Emma’s done so well is focusing on becoming the best version of herself and not getting caught up in doing things that may end up making you a lesser version of somebody else.”

 

One of the most rewarding aspects of coaching for Ayers has been seeing Navarro progress through each level of competition. 

 

“One thing about Emma’s journey is that it’s been methodical, it hasn’t been rushed,” he said. “From junior to collegiate to professional tennis, going regional to national to international competition – she’s worked through every step to earn her place.”

 

Watching Navarro grow from an 11-year-old aspiring athlete to competing on tennis’s biggest stages is a privilege reserved for the most influential figures in her life. “Just to sit here and know that I’ve watched Emma play on center court in all four Grand Slams is a pretty spectacular accomplishment,” Ayers said. “Those memories of seeing her take those courts… I’ll carry with me forever.”

 

While he shies away from taking credit for any particular aspects of Navarro’s game, Ayers acknowledges his role in shaping her tactical approach. 

 

“I would like to think that going way back, I saw an opportunity for her to play at the highest levels of the game and have been able to, through some trial and error, show her a path that could help get her there,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s dealing with a specific way of hitting a shot. Other times, it may just be a specific way of seeing how to play the game, how to structure a point, how she can best use what makes her special, and applying that to interacting with the person on the other side of the net.”

 

Among all the things Ayers is proud of, it’s Navarro’s resilience that stands out the most. “I marvel at how gracefully Emma meets every challenge,” he said. “It’s not easy. And I think that it is truly, truly special.”

 

As the Charleston Open approaches, Navarro and Ayers will once again be on home turf, where their journey began nearly a decade ago. With Navarro continuing to rise through the ranks, her coach remains ambitious. 

 

“There’s goals, and then there’s dreams,” Ayers said. “I wouldn’t want to speculate too much, but I know she has some very big dreams in terms of what she can accomplish on the biggest stages in the world. I think her goals center around trying to get a little bit better each day, trying to become the best player she can be.”