Navarro upsets third seed Sakkari to become third American to reach San Diego semis

American qualifier Emma Navarro edged out Greek Maria Sakkari, the No 3 seed, in a final set tiebreaker on Thursday evening at the Cymbiotika San Diego Open to move into the semi-finals of the WTA 500 event.

Navarro bounced back from a bagel in the second set to prevail 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (4) over the Greek player, who has now won only two matches in her last five events on the tour.

Navarro, ranked No 61, will play fellow American Sofia Kenin next. This was the biggest win of the American’s career and sets her up for a top 50 debut in the rankings next week.

With Danielle Collins facing Czech Barbora Krejcikova in the other semi-final, American players have taken three of the four berths among the last four in San Diego.

The 22-year-old Navarro had beaten Italian Jasmine Paolini (7-5, 6-0) and Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich (7-5, 6-4) in the earlier rounds.

In the previous round, Sakkari, ranked No 9 in the world, benefited from the retirement of Colombian qualifier Camila Osorio (6-3, 2-2).

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