Billionaire dad of tennis star makes groundbreaking prize money offer at US event

Emma Navarro's billionaire dad has announced that prize money at the Charleston Open will go through the roof next year. Wealthy businessman Ben Navarro acquired the company that owns the WTA 500 tournament in 2018, and he has made the call to put the winner's cash reward on a par with ATP 500 events from 2026 onwards.

World No. 11 Navarro reached the quarter-finals of this year's Charleston Open, where she was beaten in straight sets by fellow American Amanda Anisimova. , who is from a billionaire family herself, went on to win the women's title with an impressive win over Sofia Kenin on Sunday.

Pegula and her parents are not strapped for cash, and she pocketed another £127,000 for going all the way in South Carolina. That figure will practically be doubled when Navarro's proposal comes into effect next year.

Speaking about the change in her post-tournament press conference, Pegula joked: "I was like, not this year? Not the year I won it? Come on!"

She added: "No, I'm just kidding. I think that's amazing. I mean, what Ben Navarro and the Navarro family has done for tennis in the US and women's tennis especially is really incredible. I think he's been inspired by seeing how well Emma has done, how much women's tennis can really, really grow, and her being a superstar in her own right.

"I'm sure she's going to probably win this title at some point, and that'll be really cool. But I think her story has probably really inspired him to grow the sport, and I think that's amazing, having a daughter that is as successful as she is, it's cool to see him support that sport.

"So to be able to kind of set the tone and be probably the first person, I think, to do that. Yeah, first 500, right? It's huge. And I think when you're setting that tone, that sets a trend for other tournaments to do the same. So that's really, really cool."

Navarro amassed his massive personal fortune by founding a company which specialises in buying consumer debt in the USA, and another which places an emphasis on credit cards for borrowers with low credit scores.

His daughter, Emma, made her senior WTA Tour debut at the Charleston Open in 2019, when she was given a wildcard entry into the main draw. The 23-year-old has since worked her way up the rankings, and she posted her best Grand Slam result to date at last year's US Open, where she made it to the semi-finals.