US Open: Coco Gauff’s title defence comes to an end against Emma Navarro in New York | Tennis News

Coco Gauff’s U.S. Open title defence came to an end on Sunday with a shock 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 defeat to 13th seed Emma Navarro.

The 2023 champion struggled greatly with his serve and forehand, hitting 19 double faults and needing to show some fighting spirit to clinch a deciding third set, only to lose to a fellow American in New York.

Navarro, reaching just the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career and his first at the U.S. Open, dominated the first set and dominated the second, forcing a break and serving to take a 4-3 lead.

But Navarro began to get nervous after Gauff won three straight games to force the match into a third set.

Gauff’s serve let her down badly in the third set, and Navarro eventually broke twice for a commanding victory.

“To be in the quarterfinals now after losing in the first round the last two years is unbelievable,” Navarro said courtside. “This is the city where I was born so it feels really special to be playing here.”

“Coco Gauff is a fantastic player. I have a lot of respect for her. And I’m sure she’ll come back here and win again one day.”

“Losing the second set was tough. I had a chance to go 30-0 at 4-3 and then I stalled out. I picked myself up and came out fresh in the third set.”

“I wanted to play some aggressive tennis and I think I was able to do that.”

Sky Sports Tennis “It’s hard to win a match with 19 double faults, but Navarro came forward and really tried to attack, which caused the double faults,” Marion Bartoli said of Gauff’s play.

“She put Coco so far behind the baseline that all Coco could do was back off, and that’s not what you want. You want to be in control.”

“Her serve was always aimed at Coco’s forehand.”

Navarro will next face 26th seed Paula Badosa, who reached the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career at the U.S. Open by beating China’s Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-2.

The Spaniard, a former top-five player, saved eight of eight break points and converted four of five to win in one hour and 22 minutes at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

It was a surprising turn of events for Badosa, who, despite being just 26, had been considering retirement due to pain from a stress fracture in her back.

“A few months ago, I was thinking about quitting the sport because I no longer believed in myself and my injury wasn’t healing,” said Badosa, who reached the quarterfinals at the 2021 French Open.

“So to come back (to this level) is a dream come true.”

Dimitrov holds off Rublev fightback to reach quarterfinals | Fritz comes from behind to beat Ruud

Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov overcame an upset attempt by sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev on Sunday, winning 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time since 2019.

The ninth seed won 80 percent of her first-serve points and hit 17 aces to frustrate the Russian, who slammed her racket onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court and into her own body, cutting her wrist in the opening set and requiring medical treatment.

The evenly contested match was won by the Bulgarian in a decisive fifth set, to the delight of a New York crowd that included Serena Williams, who sipped on the tournament’s signature Honeyduce cocktail.

Rublev’s frustration erupted in the fourth game of the first set when he double-faulted twice, hitting a forehand into the net and another wide to give Dimitrov the first break of the match.

Dimitrov won the final five points of the second-set tiebreaker and appeared to have taken control, but the Russian fought back and took the next two sets to tie the match.

Dimitrov never lost his advantage after breaking in the fourth game of the deciding set and will face either American Francis Tiafoe or Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the quarterfinals.

“Taking the second set really helped me to keep believing in my game and in my body,” Dimitrov told reporters.

“After the first few sets, he started playing great, which meant there wasn’t much else I could do so I just had to take the reins a little bit and wait for my opportunity.”

“That happened in the fifth set and I think that was the big difference today. After that I was leading the match but it was very difficult.”

Earlier, Taylor Fritz overcame a slow start to defeat eventual No. 8 seed Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his second consecutive U.S. Open quarterfinals.

Ruud was sharp from the beginning, breaking to take a 5-3 lead before holding at love to take the first set.

But the American began to pressure Ruud’s serve in the second set, finally breaking to tie the match when the Norwegian double-faulted on set point – he was using a towel to wipe away his sweat on the court on a muggy New York day.

Ruud changed into dry clothes and shoes before the third round, but never regained his composure.

He served badly and smashed a backhand into the net to fall behind 2-0 in the third set before 12th-seeded Fritz won the set with an ace.

Fritz continued his momentum in the fourth set, hitting his 24th ace on match point to set up a quarterfinal meeting with either fellow American Brandon Nakashima or fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany.

What’s on Sky Sports Tennis in September?

• Jasmine Open, Tunisia – WTA 250 (September 9-15)
• Guadalajara Open, Mexico – WTA 500 (September 9-15)
• Korea Open – WTA 500 (September 16-22 – vs. Emma Raducanu)
• Thailand Open – WTA 250 (September 16-22)
• Chengdu Open, China – ATP 250 (September 18-24)
• Hangzhou Open, China – ATP 250 (September 18-24)
• China Open – WTA 1000 (September 25th – October 6th)
• Japan Open – ATP 500 (September 25th – October 1st)
• China Open – ATP 500 (September 26 – October 2)

Sky Sports+ has officially launched Sky TVstreaming services now The Sky Sports app will also allow Sky Sports customers to watch over 50% more live sport this year, at no extra cost. Find out more here.