Emma Navarro defeats Paula Badosa to reach US Open semifinals

NEW YORK — American Emma Navarro reached her first Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday by beating Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 at the US Open.

Navarro, the 13th-seeded woman who had never won a main-draw match in her home tournament until this year, advanced to Thursday’s semifinals against either second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka or seventh-seeded Qinwen Zheng.

Navarro, who knocked out reigning champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round, had won the first set in 29 minutes, but the 26th-seeded Badosa took a 5-1 lead in the second set.

Navarro then won six games in a row, scoring 24 of the last 28 points, while Badosa’s play collapsed.

“After I got back to 5-2 I had a little feeling that it was going to be two sets … even if I lost the second, I wanted to set the tone for the third set,” Navarro said. “I can’t see the future, but maybe today I can.”

It was a banner year for Navarro, who reached the third round or better at all four Grand Slams, including a fourth round at Roland Garros and a quarterfinal at Wimbledon, after never having advanced beyond the second round of a major.

Navarro, who played two years for Virginia, is the third former female college player in the past 40 years to reach the U.S. Open semifinals, following Oklahoma State’s Lori McNeil in 1987 and UCLA’s Jennifer Brady in 2020.

Her victory capped an impressive summer season for Badosa, who entered Tuesday with 24 wins in her last 30 matches since the May tournament in Rome, highlighted by a WTA 500 title in Washington and a semi-final in Cincinnati, before making her appearance in Flushing Meadows.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.