Coco Gauff’s championship defense at the US Open has come to an end after Emma Navarro defeated her in the fourth round in New York.
13th seed and fellow American Navarro defeated third seed Gauff 6-3 4-6 6-3 despite a disorganized performance from the third seed.
Gauff committed 19 double faults, including 11 in the third set alone and three more in the match’s decisive game, which gave Navarro the win.
“I lost in the first round the last two years and now to be making the quarter-finals is pretty insane,” Navarro stated.
“This is the city I was born in and it feels so special to be playing here.”
Just two months before, at Wimbledon, Navarro soundly defeated Gauff in the final 16.
She declared that she would need to maintain her focus after “collapsing” mentally in their previous meeting, but frailties on serve, including three back-to-back double faults in the third set and 60 unforced errors, helped Navarro reach the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
After Navarro defeated China’s Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-2 earlier on Sunday, the Spaniard will now face Paula Badosa, the 26th seed, in the round of eight.
“Coco is an incredible athlete,” Navarro continued.
“I have a ton of respect for her and I know she’s going to come back here and win this thing again.”
With Navarro’s triumph, Gauff’s attempt to become the first female US Open champion since Serena Williams in 2014 is dashed.
Since Williams in 2004, the 23-year-old is also the youngest American woman to advance to the quarterfinals of both the US Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
(BBC)
