Emma Navarro earns her 2nd top-20 win in as many weeks! The former @UVAWomensTennis star beats Keys 6-2, 7-6(5) to reach the Round of 16. #GDLOpenAKRON
Emma Navarro surprises by defeating Madison Keys and advancing in the Guadalajara Open
WTAWednesday, 20 September 2023 at 06:31
Emma
Navarro delivered the surprise of the day by defeating Madison Keys 6-2, 7-6(5)
and advancing to the round of 16 in Guadalajara.
The
22-year-old rising star was in the best form of her career, reaching her
highest ranking at World No. 49. Navarro was one of the surprises last week
when she made it to the semifinals of the WTA 500 San Diego Open, coming from
the qualifiers, but she fell to former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
This week,
she made a successful debut against her compatriot Maria Mateas with a
convincing 6-0, 6-4 victory. Her opponent was the 4th seed Madison Keys,
playing her first tournament since her impressive run at the US Open, where she
reached the semifinals but lost to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Keys had a
shaky start, conceding her service in the first game of the match. Although
Navarro took an early lead, the 29-year-old tennis player managed to break back
to level the score 2-2. From there on, Navarro dominated, winning four
consecutive games, including two breaks, and surprisingly took the first set
6-2.
The second
set seemed like Keys would take control of the match as she broke in the second
game to lead 2-0, but she couldn't maintain it and lost it in the following
game.
Both
players held their serves until 4-4, where Navarro capitalized on her
opponent's errors to take a 5-4 lead with her serve to close the match. World
No. 12 risked it all with strong forehands in the return and managed to break
back, extending the match to the tie-break.
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The
tie-break had both players level with a mini-break when Navarro secured her
first match point. Keys conceded her service at the most crucial point of the
match and was eliminated by the young American Navarro with a score of 6-2,
7-6(5).
In the
round of 16, she will face former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, who has
performed impressively by defeating Asa Muhammad (349th) and 13th seed Elise
Mertens (29th).
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