Emma Navarro thrilled the fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday when she clawed her way back to defeat Paula Badosa and advance to the semi-finals of the US Open. Navarro, a local favorite, pulled off a stunning victory over the Spaniard, winning 6-2 7-5 in just 72 minutes after trailing in the second set.
Navarro, seeded 13th, followed up her fourth-round upset of defending champion Coco Gauff with a strong performance against Badosa, a former World No 2, seeded 26th. She came back from 1-5 down in the second set to secure her spot in the penultimate round of the Grand Slam tournament.
“After I got her back to 5-2,” Navarro said after the match, “I had a little bit of an inkling that it would be two sets. I just wanted to stay really tough. Even if I did lose the second set, I wanted to set the tone for the third set.”
The American dominated the first set with 16 winners to Badosa’s 6 and put in 69% of her first serves. Despite facing a 5-1 deficit in the second set, Navarro fought back by winning 12 of the next 14 points to level the set at 5-5. She eventually closed out the match with a superb drop-shot winner to take the victory.
This win marks a significant milestone for Navarro, who has now reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments this year. She will next face Aryna Sabalenka, the No 2 seed, in the semi-finals. Sabalenka defeated Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-finals and holds a 1-1 head-to-head record against Navarro.
Navarro’s impressive performance at the US Open has solidified her status as one of the rising stars in tennis, joining an elite group of players who have made a deep run at a Grand Slam without any prior wins in the main draw. It will be exciting to see how she fares against Sabalenka in the upcoming semi-final match.
