Emma Navarro reacts after defeating Paula Badosa, of Spain, in the quarterfinals of the US Open tennis championship, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in New York.
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Pamela Smith/AP
NEW YORK – Emma Navarro’s first Grand Slam semifinal will come at the US Open against Aryna Sabalenka, a man trying to win her second major title of the year and third overall.
Navarro, the 13th-seeded American, used a stunning turnaround to take the last six games in her quarter-final against Paula Badosa with a 6-2, 7-5 victory at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday after beating defending champion Coco Gauff. .
“Sometimes you’re out on the court, and you can picture yourself playing the third set. When I’m outside, I don’t picture myself playing the third set,” despite losing 5-1 in the second, said Navarro. “I think… I can go back and do it in two.”
Of course it is.
There was no such drama in the 6-1, 6-2 win over No. 2 Sabalenka takes on No. 7 Zheng Qinwen, gold medalist at last month’s Paris Olympics, in a rematch of Sabalenka’s victory in the Australian Open final.
With Roger Federer in the stands, attending the US Open for the first time since retirement, Sabalenka produced a typically strong performance to reach the semifinals in New York for the fourth consecutive year. In 2023, he was runner-up to Gauff.
Sabalenka said she saw Federer in the crowd and thought he was there to watch Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov in the match that followed them.
“But, I was like, OK, I have to play my best tennis so that they are happy. I have to show my skills, you know, slicing skills, coming to the net and all that stuff,” said Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus who is better known as his strength, with laughter.
She is trying to become the first woman since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to win major hardcourt titles at the Australian Open and the US Open. Sabalenka beat Zheng in January for her second consecutive title at Melbourne Park.
“I just think that the next time I play against him, maybe I should rally better and play more relaxed,” Zheng said. “Because today obviously I went into the match very nervous.”
Opponents in the other women’s semifinals will be decided on Wednesday, when No. 1 Iga Swiatek played No. 6 Jessica Pegula, and No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia against unseeded Karolina Muchova.
In Tuesday’s men’s quarterfinals, No. 12 Taylor Fritz of the US secured his first place in the final four of a major, defeating 2020 US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Fritz is 0-4 in Grand Slam quarterfinals but eventually beat Zverev, the No. 4 seed who he also defeated in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
“I’ve seen a lot of quarterfinals over the last few years and today just felt different,” Fritz said. “I really think it’s time to take it a step further.”
Tiafoe gave the Americans their third semifinalist when Grigor Dimitrov stopped playing with an injury in the fourth set. Tiafoe led 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 4-1 and will play 12th-seeded Fritz in Friday’s semifinals, guaranteeing the US a men’s finalist at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2006. .
Navarro dropped three points to go into the third set against Badosa, but won the next four points to stay alive, making it 24 of his final 28 points.
“It didn’t look good in the second set, but just trying to be really tough, staying in there, making them get the ball back,” Navarro said. “I feel like if I can break some longer points, maybe put some pressure on him, I think I can come back and maybe close it in two sets. Happy with how I was able to do that.
Navarro had never won a match in the main draw before this year.
Badosa described himself as a “disaster” as he faced the pressure to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal.
“I never had momentum in this match. I played four or five games OK. It was 5-1, but I never felt alone on the field,” said Badosa. “I lost, I don’t know, 20 points almost in a row. It’s very strange for me because I’m a consistent player, so I didn’t expect it either.
Navarro also beat Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon before losing to Jasmine Paolini in the next round, losing 6-2, 6-1 in less than an hour.
But the 2021 NCAA singles champion for Virginia is ready for this matchup between the New York natives, jumping on Badosa to win the first three matches, then grabbing the opening Badosa gave him late.
Navarro became the sixth player in the past 40 years to reach the US Open semifinals without a main draw win at the tournament, a list that includes new champion Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and Emma Raducanu in 2021.
