US Open: Emma Navarro hangs on to beat defending champion Coco Gauff, reach quarterfinals

Emma Navarro has done it again.

Navarro held on late Sunday afternoon and took advantage of a struggling Coco Gauff to knock off the defending US Open champion at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Navarro beat Gauff 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in their fourth-round match to earn a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time in her career. It also matches her best finish ever at a Grand Slam.

“It’s pretty insane. I lost in the first round the last two years, and now to be making quarterfinals is pretty insane,” Navarro said on the court after her win. “This is the city I was born in and it feels so special to be playing here.

“Coco’s an amazing player and I have a ton of respect for her. I know she’s going to come back here and win this thing again one year.”

After Gauff held on early in their match, Navarro flew ahead to take a dominant win in the first set and grab the advantage. Navarro jumped up 4-2 in the first after a string of double faults for Gauff before closing out the first set 6-3.

Navarro held strong to start the second set, too. She pushed ahead 4-3 after claiming three straight points to get the break, which had her on the cusp of a quarterfinal berth.

Finally, though, Gauff came alive. She tied the set back up after Navarro lost on a double fault, and then she won 12 of 15 points to even the match up and force a third set.

Navarro got the break early in the final set, however, after Gauff picked up her 12th double fault of the afternoon. Gauff made three double faults in the last four points of the third game, and fell behind 3-1 right away. Gauff’s struggles continued as she tried to fight back in it, and she picked up three more double faults as Navarro jumped up 4-3 in the final set. From there, Navarro quickly closed out the rest of the match to claim the win and reach her second straight Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Gauff had 19 double faults in the match, 11 in the final set. She had 60 unforced errors, too.

Navarro eliminated Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon earlier this summer, though she was knocked out of the quarterfinals in London by Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.

Gauff had to rally to make Sunday’s match against Navarro. She came storming back to beat Elina Svitolina after dropping 11 points in a row in the first set of their match Friday. Her win there marked her 12th match win at a Grand Slam after dropping an opening set since she made her debut in 2019 and her 60th major match victory before her 21st birthday which is something only five other American women have done.

Navarro will now take on Spain’s Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. Badosa flew past China’s Yafan Wang 6-1, 6-2 in their fourth round match earlier Sunday.