Having watched fellow seeded players tumble out, world number 10 Navarro said after her win that “it is kind of anyone’s tournament” and will hope she can include herself in that conversation.
But she faces a tough task in the defending champion Krejcikova next.
Last year’s winner has endured a tumultuous six months and was playing just her eighth match of the year on Thursday, having missed much of the season with a back injury.
She had to pull out of Eastbourne with a thigh problem last week but expressed her joy at being back at Wimbledon following her opening-round win and seems to come alive at the All England Club with a game suited to the grass courts.
This time on the smaller, more intimate court two, having opened play on Centre Court on Tuesday, she came back from 3-1 in the first set against Dolehide, winning four games in a row to wrestle back control.
After world number 62 Dolehide levelled, Krejcikova responded by landing the decisive break in the sixth game of the third set before serving out the match.
“Definitely a huge relief,” she said.
“[I am] really happy and grateful to be here playing matches and feeing good and healthy. The last six to eight months were really difficult for me, really grateful to be here playing tennis and to keep going.”
