US Open: Emma Navarro holds on to beat reigning champion Coco Gauff, reaches quarterfinals

Emma Navarro has done it again.

Navarro held her ground on Sunday afternoon, taking advantage of a struggling Coco Gauff to defeat the reigning US Open champion and her Olympic teammate in her first-ever match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Navarro defeated Gauff 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in their fourth-round match to earn a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time in her career and equal her best performance ever at a Grand Slam.

After Gauff held his ground early in their match, Navarro surged ahead to secure a dominant first-set victory and seize the advantage. Navarro jumped to a 4-2 lead in the first after a series of double faults for Gauff before closing out the first set 6-3.

Navarro, playing her first-ever match with Arthur Ashe, held her own in the second set, taking a 4-3 lead after scoring three straight points to grab the break and move to the brink of a quarterfinal.

Eventually, however, Gauff came to life, leveling the set after Navarro lost on a double fault, and then winning 12 of the last 15 points to level the match and force a third set.

Navarro, however, was given the break early in the final set after Gauff made her 12th double fault of the afternoon. Gauff made three double faults in the last four points of the third game to immediately fall behind 3-1. Gauff continued to struggle as she attempted to fight back, and she made three more double faults as Navarro led 4-3 in the final set. From there, Navarro quickly closed out the remainder of the match to claim the win and reach her second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Gauff made 19 double faults in the match, 11 of which came in the final set. She also made 60 unforced errors.

Navarro also knocked Gauff out in the fourth round at Wimbledon earlier this summer, though she was eliminated in the quarterfinals in London by Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. Gauff had to rally to reach her match against Navarro on Sunday, advancing to defeat Elina Svitolina after losing 11 straight points in the first set of their match on Friday. Her victory there marked her 12th Grand Slam match win after dropping an opening set since making her debut in 2019 and her 60th major match win before her 21st birthday — something only five other American women in history have done.

Navarro will now face Spain’s Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. Badosa breezed past China’s Yafan Wang 6-1, 6-2 in their fourth-round match earlier on Sunday.