Emma Navarro surprises by defeating Madison Keys and advancing in the Guadalajara Open

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.

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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).