"Embarrassing, couldn't dislike Emma Navarro more";"Paying for it is the same" - Fans divided over American's turkey hunting trip during Thanksgiving
Emma Navarro recently celebrated Thanksgiving with her family and embarked on a hunting trip to ring in the festivities. The 23-year-old sparked mixed reactions from fans after sharing photos of herself posing with a hunting rifle.
Navarro last competed on tour at the 2024 Wuhan Open, where she suffered a shock opening-round loss to Magdalena Frech. Subsequently, the American went on an island vacation to unwind after a grueling season. She later reunited with her family for Thanksgiving.
The World No. 8 shared a glimpse of her festivities as she relaxed at home, spent time with her siblings, and went hunting for turkeys.
"🦃 🤗," Navarro captioned her Instagram post.
The pictures of Emma Navarro posing with her gun went viral on social media, with fans weighing in with contrasting opinions.
Several fans lashed out at the World No. 8 and condemned her actions as "embarrassing," using it as further reason to root against her.
"No surprise going to hunt. That's so American. Embarrassing, couldn't dislike her more 😤," one fan commented.
"As if I needed another reason to root against her," another fan wrote.
"Can’t say that i’m surprised," a fan remarked.
"Imagine killing an animal that you won’t even eat and enjoying it," said another.
Given the backlash the American earned for "vulturing" lower-tier tournaments this season, one fan jokingly accused her of doing the same to animals.
"Not her vulturing some animals too," one fan posted.
However, others leaped to Emma Navarro's defense, with one fan arguing that purchasing turkey meat was no different, while another emphasized that hunting was acceptable if people were responsible gun owners.
"Are y'all vegans here?🙄 Paying for it is just the same," one fan posted.
"I have my issues with Emma but this isn’t one of them," another fan chimed in.
"Sorry to be unwoke but idrc if people go hunting or are gunowners if they are responsible and sane," a fan argued.
Emma Navarro: "To be able to spend some time with my family away from tennis is really special, that's the time I really cherish a lot"
Emma Navarro likely enjoyed the opportunity to spend some downtime with her loved ones during Thanksgiving, as she has previously emphasized how much she cherished time with her family away from tennis.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel during her campaign at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, the American expressed delight at the opportunity to vacation in Greece with her family and bond over bike rides, kayaking, and hiking.
"I took a little hiatus in Greece with my family after the French Open, which was really awesome. For wanting to be able to spend some time with my family away from tennis is really special and that's the time I really cherish a lot," Emma Navarro said.
"And then also just being in Greece was amazing. We got to do some cool bike rides, we did a fifty-mile bike ride ahead the whole get up, I felt like Lance Armstrong or something. And then did some hiking, some kayaking. So that was definitely a highlight of mine in this European summer," she added.
On the tennis front, Emma Navarro recently won the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award after clinching her maiden tour-level title at Hobart International and achieving a career-high ranking of World No. 8 this season.