Tennis - U.S. Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 3, 2024 Emma Navarro of the U.S. in action during her quarter final match against Spain's Paula Badosa REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
NEW YORK (Reuters) -American Emma Navarro produced a stunning second-set fightback to move into her first Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-2 7-5 win over Spain's Paula Badosa as her breakout season continued at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
In a battle of New York-born baseliners, Navarro, who beat defending champion Coco Gauff in the previous round, stunned a suddenly error-prone Badosa by winning 24 of the last 28 points of the match to wrap up victory in 72 minutes.
Navarro admitted that she came into the match having learned plenty from her run at Wimbledon, where she also beat Gauff in the fourth round before suffering a lopsided defeat to Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals.
"I think maybe at Wimbledon I talked myself into some emotions I didn't necessarily feel or need to feel, you know, being in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam," said Navarro.
"So, coming out on the court here today I felt much more comfortable and yeah, I was ready to rock and I think I'm at the point in my career where I'm not scared of any result or making a run in any tournament."
Navarro consolidated an early break to go 3-0 up and leaned on her remarkable forehand while turning aside the two break points she faced to secure the first set in convincing fashion.
Badosa, flying the Spanish flag but born in New York, opened up a 4-1 double break lead in the second set and looked poised to force a decider after a routine hold put her ahead 5-1 before enduring a stunning collapse.
The 26th seed, whose U.S. Open lead-up included a title in Washington and run to the semi-finals at Cincinnati, twice failed to serve out the set while Navarro twice held to love to pull ahead before closing out the match with her fifth break.
"After I got it back to 5-2 I kind of had a little bit of an inkling that it might be two sets and I just wanted to stay really tough and stick in there," said Navarro.
"Even if I did lose the second set I wanted to kind of set the tone for the third set. So yeah, just really happy with my performance today and crazy to be moving on to the semi-finals, U.S. Open baby!"
Navarro has found another gear in 2024 after having never advanced past the second round at a Grand Slam prior to this year.
The American has reached the third round or better at all four Grand Slams, including a fourth-round finish at Roland Garros and a quarter-final showing at Wimbledon.
Up next for Navarro will be either two-time reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, or Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who is seeded seventh.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Additional reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
