World number 17 Emma Navarro shocked US Open champion Coco Gauff with a straight-sets 6-4, 6-3 victory in the all-American clash on Centre court this evening – and blew the women’s draw wide open following top seed Iga Swiatek’s defeat yesterday.
Navarro’s solid performance included ten winners and having never won a match on grass before this year’s tournament, she converted three of her four breakpoints to reach her first grand slam quarter final of her career.
“I don’t have a ton of words,” said Navarro on court afterwards, “I am really grateful to be out here on Centre court, a tournament with so much history and tradition and so many legends have played on before me. It’s a real honour. Thanks to you guys for coming to watch and I can’t wait to play again.”
Gauff’s defeat again raises questions about her grass court credentials having never been past the fourth round here, but making the semi-finals or better at the other Grand Slams. This year’s tournament was a glorious opportunity for her with third round defeats for two-time finalist Ons Jabeur and top seed Swiatek, as well as World number three Aryna Sabalenka being sidelined for this year’s event.
Navarro went a break down in the opening set but broke back for 3-3 when a Gauff backhand sailed long. She held serve and applied scoreboard pressure at 5-4 up, and took the set with a beautiful forehand pass on her second set point. She also won all seven net approaches during the set. She carried the momentum into the second set breaking early for a 2-1 lead and continued playing positively from the baseline.
“I think I played really aggressively,” said Navarro about her gameplan. “Coco is obviously an amazing player and I have a ton of respect for her and what she’s done at such a young age is really amazing, and I knew she wasn’t going to make it easy for me tonight. I wanted to play aggressively and push back against her game and I think I was able to do that.”
Navarro won the contest when Gauff hit her final forehand into the net, and the 19th seed admitted she is loving her experience of playing on Centre court, having also beat Naomi Osaka in the second round. “It’s an amazing court, probably my favourite court I’ve ever played on. The fans, the atmosphere, the grass is amazing, having my family and my team watch me, it’s amazing. Thank you, guys.”
Navarro now goes on to face Roland Garros finalist Jasmine Paolini, and although she has beaten her on both of their meetings, she was wary of the upcoming challenge and that she would have to play her best again. “She’s a great player, she’s not an easy out, and always puts up a great fight till the end, so I think it’s going to be a great match and I’m really excited.”
