By David Ramirez
01 Sep 2024, 19:34 PM EDT
Emma Navarro eliminated defending champion Coco Gauff in the round of 16 to advance to the US Open quarterfinals for the first time in her career and the second in a row after reaching that round at Wimbledon.
In front of a packed stadium and in the festive atmosphere of the Labor Day holiday, the Americans put on a good show, but with Navarro hungry for victory from the beginning, to seal the match and reward her best effort with a 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3 victory.
Navarro will play in the quarterfinals against Spain’s Paula Badosa, seeded number 26.
Navarro, 23 years old and seeded No. 13, was much more incisive in all lines against Gauff, seeded No. 3, who was left wanting to defend her title.
The New Yorker excelled with plays of great solvency and speed and in just 44 minutes she won the first set.
“I lost in the first round the last two years, so now to be in the quarter-finals is crazy. This is the city I was born in and it feels very special to play here,” she said on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium after her victory.
Gauff tried to rally and did so. Navarro was leading 4-3 and 30-0 and Gauff came back to force a third set, taking 14 of the last 18 points.
But this, instead of discouraging Navarro, gave her a new lease of life to regain the initial momentum that, just as the final set began, she managed to break Gauff’s serve and from there reaffirm her path to victory.
Gauff committed 19 double faults, enough to tip the balance in favor of her opponent who, as mentioned before, was much more attuned to her repertoire.
Navarro has reached her second consecutive quarter-final at a major tournament. The first was at Wimbledon, against the same Coco Gauff whom she then eliminated 6-4, 6-3.
A National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion playing for the University of Virginia, Navarro had never won a match at the US Open until this year. But now the horizon looks bright for what she accomplished on Sunday.