No. 13 seed Emma Navarro had 20 winners while delivering a huge upset over defending U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff, prevailing 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals in New York.
Navarro prospered from the implosion of the third-seeded Gauff, who committed 19 double faults and 60 unforced errors. Gauff had 11 double faults in the decisive set.
Navarro, 23, is in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time. She will face No. 26 seed Paula Badosa of Spain.
“It’s pretty insane,” Navarro said in her post-match interview on the court. “I lost in the first round the last two years and to be in the quarterfinals is so insane. This is the city I was born in. It feels so special to be playing here.
Navarro also defeated Gauff earlier this year at Wimbledon to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time.
Gauff had just 14 winners on Sunday. She escaped from a hole in the second set to keep the match alive before Navarro took advantage in the third due to Gauff’s 22 final-set miscues.
“It was tough losing the second set,” Navarro said. “I had chances. I was up 30-love at 4-3 and then had a little bit of a lull there. But I was able to regroup after the second set and come into the third set with a fresh mindset.
“I wanted to play aggressive tennis and I was able to do that.”
Gauff exits the U.S. Open sooner than forecasted, and last year’s title remains the 20-year-old’s only Grand Slam crown.
“Mentally I gave it and emotionally I gave it my all,” Gauff said. “Of course, there were things execution-wise, where, obviously I wish I could serve better. I think if I would have did that, it would have been a different story for me in the match.”
Navarro and Gauff were teammates on the United States Olympic team this summer and have a strong relationship.
“Coco is an amazing player and I have a ton of respect for her,” Navarro said. “I know she’s going to come back here and win this thing again one year.”
Meanwhile, Badosa dispatched Yafan Wang of China 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday to advance to her second career Grand Slam quarterfinal at the U.S. Open in New York.
The Spain product and former top-five player went 8-for-8 in saving break points and 4-for-5 in converting break points to prevail in one hour, 22 minutes at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
It was a remarkable turn of events for Badosa, who despite being just 26 years old has contemplated retirement due to pain from a stress fracture of her back.
Instead, Badosa will face Navarro with a chance to compete for her first Grand Slam title creeping ever closer.
“A few months ago, I was thinking to quit this sport because I stopped believing in myself and my injury wasn’t responding,” said Badosa, who reached the quarterfinals at the 2021 French Open. “So to be back (at this level) is a dream come true.
“For me, with all respect, tennis doesn’t make sense if I’m not on the top. I want to play big stages. I want to play the last rounds of every tournament. I want to be one of the best players in the world.”
Yang fell behind 5-0 and never threatened in the first set, but she leveraged 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the second set before eventually succumbing. Down 3-2 in the sixth game with a chance to tie things up again, Yang battled through seven exchanges until Badosa won the game, and eventually the match.
Badosa was also perfect (8-for-8) on service games won in becoming the first Spanish woman to reach the U.S. Open quarters since Carla Suarez Navarro in 2018.
In evening action, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus got past 33rd-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 6-4.
Sabalenka came through at the key moments, saving all eight break points she faced. She also had a 41-13 edge in winners.
Her quarterfinal opponent will be seventh-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China, who advanced by winning the latest-ending women’s singles match in U.S. Open history. Zheng defeated 24th-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2, with the end coming at 2:15 a.m. ET local time on Monday.
–Field Level Media
