Emma Navarro continues to impress with the rising American booking her spot in the fourth round of the
US Open with a showdown waiting with Coco Gauff after seeing off
Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Last time, Navarro saw off Coco Gauff in one of her career best wins at Wimbledon with the American rising through ITF and WTA 125k tournaments doing it the hard way over the past year to head towards the top 10.
Now with a maiden US Open Quarter-Final beckoning, the time is now to echo her run to the Quarter-Finals of Wimbledon last summer. Her best at a Grand Slam in her fledgling career thus far but one that has been ultra competitive since making her major debut in 2022.
Win the next round and she not only makes her second major Quarter-Final but she will also reach the top 10 in the WTA live rankings for the first time so a lot at stake.
She did not have it easy against Kostyuk. After losing the second set, the upward curve in momentum headed towards the Ukrainian. She went 3-1 up in the decider and looked to be silencing the crowd. But Navarro upped her level and she won the final five games for a grand stand finish from a top player.
Not one for trashtalk unless it's Qinwen Zheng, Navarro was pleased to be playing Gauff next. “I’m really excited to play Coco again. I got to know her at the Olympics. She’s an awesome girl. It’s pretty cool to have two Americans playing each other in the 4th round of a Grand Slam.”
But while Navarro is through, the same can't be said for her compatriot and another real rising star in
Peyton Stearns. Albeit the fellow NCAA graduate was defeated by one of the top players right now in
Donna Vekic.
It was a 7-5, 6-4 win for the Olympic silver medalist who is going through one of her best career spells right now and took down the Texan who has had success in New York the past two years. Yafan Wang is also through seeing off Victoria Azarenka in three who is known to be struggling with the conditions and migraines this week.