Emma Navarro reveals health condition and ends 2026 season early

[p]The 25-year-old ‌American, who reached the quarter-finals of her home ‌Grand Slam earlier this month, said in an Instagram post ‌on Wednesday that she aims to be back for ‌next year's Australian Open.[/p][p][b]"I have learned that there is no weight on the scale or leanness in your limbs that is ‌more valuable than your health or your ⁠well-being," [/b]she wrote.[/p][p][b]"I am ‌taking the rest of this year to work on dialling in ​my medication and fueling protocols so that I can hopefully feel back to 100% again."[/b][/p][p]RED-S is ​a condition that leads to the body not receiving enough energy for heavy physical activities typical for athletes, while ⁠Hashimoto's hypothyroidism is ​an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, causing slower metabolism.[/p][embed guid="d3b6f3a3-6afc-4a62-a4aa-75d9d030fab2" url="https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd6ujadHPdz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==" social-type="instagram" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/navarro-emma/WxLdKcAs/"]Navarro[/a], who reached a career-high ranking of world number eight two years ago, said she had ‌been experiencing increased hunger and a weakening immune system since 2023 but pushed through it to keep up with the busy tennis calendar.[/b][/p][p]She fought through headaches, dizziness and heavy fatigue during her run to the quarter-finals of the 2025 Australian Open, and did not figure out what was causing them until doctors diagnosed her in November that year.[/p][p][b]"So over the past year, I have gone ‌all in. Changing my diet, increasing my energy intake... ​although it took a while to start feeling better, ‌I gradually made progress," [/b]Navarro wrote.[/p][p][b]"So yeah. I gained some weight this year. But I also gained my life back. I have enough energy to seize every day, to train or compete as hard as ⁠I want to, and ⁠to live a life ‌outside of tennis."[/b][/p]