Emma Navarro continued her 2024 US Open campaign with another stunning display, beating Paula Badosa in two sets.
Navarro arrived in New York after some solid weeks and a good outing in Monterrey the week before. Even with that good run, nobody expected her to challenge for the title because she hadn't excelled in New York before.
She had never made it past the first round before this year, but she played remarkably well this time. Win after win came, and the American remained in the draw. A win over Coco Gauff secured her a spot in the quarter-finals, but it was a very tough matchup for her in the quarter-final match.
She had to face an in-form Badosa, who had been playing well in the previous weeks. The Spaniard was slightly favored in this match, but none of that showed early on as the home favorite broke her opponent's serve, and things only went downhill from there for the Spaniard.
Badosa remained out of rhythm, was pushed around by Navarro quite a bit, and rushed her shots. Another break ended the opening set, with Navarro winning it 6-2. In those eight games, Badosa had 15 unforced errors, including five double faults.
That was not good enough for a player known for being a good server. Things started much better in the second set as Badosa was able to break early after Navarro also started to make mistakes.
The Spanish player played much better in the second set, but her opponent also made a lot of errors. Navarro made five unforced errors in the eight games of the opening set, while she made eight unforced errors in only five games of the second set.
Badosa was then up 4-1. It seemed like she would win the set, but after leading 5-2, things got complicated for her. Navarro played a solid game to break back and then held comfortably to make it 5-4.
Badosa then stepped up to serve for the set again but seemed nervous. After Navarro won the opening point, Badosa committed back-to-back double faults to make it 0-40.
The American broke back to make it 5-5 after that disastrous sequence for Badosa, who lost her serve twice, going from up 5-2 to eventually down 5-6. That upcoming service game was massive for her because her match would be lost if she didn't hold.
Navarro didn't even have to do anything to win the match because Badosa couldn't hit the court after losing her serve. At one point, she started to cry, which showed how she felt.
It didn't look like she was injured; rather, but just lost her rhythm. Ultimately, while the Spaniard battled in that final game, Navarro got a match point and converted it to win the match 6-2, 7-5. Badosa was up 5-1 in the second set and served twice for the set, but she lost six games in a row to lose the match.
Emma Navarro vs Paula Badosa Match Stats:
| Emma Navarro | Paula Badosa | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Aces | 4 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 7 |
| 71% | First Serve % | 65% |
| 71% (29/41) | Points Won After First Serve % | 63% (22/35) |
| 59% (10/17) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 26% (5/19) |
| 63% (5/8) | Break Point Conversion | 33% (2/6) |
| 12 | Winners | 10 |
| 15 | Unforced Errors | 35 |
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