Navarro makes first US Open quarter-final as Gauff serves 19 double faults

No 13 seed Emma Navarro won against No 3 seed Coco Gauff 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to move into the quarter-finals of the US Open in New York on Sunday evening.

The win sees Navarro through to her first US Open quarter-final, with the American having lost in the first round in her two other appearances in New York.

It is also her second consecutive win over Gauff, with the world No 12 taking out the top-ranked American at Wimbledon in July as well.

“It’s pretty insane, I lost in the first round the last two years,” said Navarro after the match. “Now to make the quarter-finals is pretty insane.”

Error-ridden Gauff unable to sustain comeback

While Navarro played solid tennis, the overriding factor in this match was the number of errors from Gauff’s racquet.

The defending champion sprayed an incredible 19 double faults over the course of the two-hour, 12-minute match, including 11 in the third set alone. She also made a total of 60 unforced errors, consistently failing to find her range in baseline exchanges and striking the ball long.

Despite her struggles, Gauff still managed to fight back in the second, gritting her way to force a decider.

“It was tough losing the second set, I had chances. I was up 30-0 and 4-3, then had a bit of a lull there,” explained Navarro.

“But I regrouped, came into the third set with a fresh mind set, wanted to play aggressive tennis and I think I was able to do that.”

Navarro did make 20 winners and served much better than Gauff, making 66 percent of first serves.

“This is the city I was born in and it feels so special to be playing here,” she declared after the match.

“Coco is an amazing player, I have a ton of respect for her, I know she’s going to come back and win this one year.”

Navarro, ranked No 12, will play Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 26 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, Emma Navarro beat Russian Anna Blinkova (6-1, 6-1), Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus (6-1, 6-1) and Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, the No 19 seed (6-4, 4-6, 6-3).

Gauff, ranked No 3, defeated Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (6-2, 6-0), German Tatjana Maria (6-4, 6-0) and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No 27 seed (3-6, 6-3, 6-3) in the previous rounds.

New York (Grand Slam), other round of 16 results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 75,000,000):

• Paula Badosa beat Yafan Wang: 6-1, 6-2
• Iga Swiatek vs. Liudmila Samsonova
• Caroline Wozniacki vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Diana Shnaider vs. Jessica Pegula
• Karolina Muchova vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Donna Vekic
• Elise Mertens vs. Aryna Sabalenka

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