Sports
US Open: USA’s Emma Navarro rallies from 5-1 second-set deficit, will face Aryna Sabalenka in semifinals
Emma Navarro rallied from a 5-1 second-set deficit for a 6-2, 7-5 win over Spain’s Paula Badosa in the US Open quarterfinal round on Tuesday.
Navarro advances to Thursday’s semifinal round, the deepest run the 13th-seeded American has ever made in a Grand Slam tournament. There, she’ll face No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus), who beat No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen (China), 6-1, 6-2 Tuesday night.
Navarro is the first of two Americans who advanced to the semifinal round on Tuesday. No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz upset No. 4 seed No. 4 Alexander Zverev Tuesday afternoon to punch his ticket to the semifinal.
Navarro took early control of the match, breaking Badosa on the first serve of the opening set. She then broke Badosa again to win the set, 6-2.
The match appeared destined for a third set after Badosa took early control in the second. Badosa broke Navarro’s first serve of the set then broke her again en route to a 5-1 lead. But with the New York crowd firmly behind Navarro at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Navarro dominated the rest of the match.
She broke Badosa to cut her deficit to 5-3 en route to winning the last six games of the match, stunning the Spaniard to end her run at the US Open. Navarro won 24 of the last 28 points to secure the win.
Navarro said after the match that she maintained her confidence even after digging a 5-1 second-set hole.
“After I got it back to 5-2, I kind of had a little bit of an inkling that it might be two sets,” Navarro told ESPN after the match. “I just wanted to stay really tough and stick in there. Even if I did lose the second set, I wanted to kind of set the tone for the third set.”
Navarro is now two wins away from a US Open title after being eliminated in the first round in each of the previous two years. Tuesday’s was her second consecutive win over a seeded player after she upset reigning US Open champion and No. 3 seed American Coco Gauff in fourth-round play on Sunday.
Navarro and Fritz are the first of four Americans hoping to advance to the semifinal round. No. 20 seed Frances Tiafoe is scheduled to face No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) in prime time Tuesday night.
On Wednesday, No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula will face No. 1 seed and 2022 US Open champion Iga Świątek (Poland).
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