NEW YORK (AP) — Emma Navarro's 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over defending champion Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open on Sunday earned her a trip to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament.
Before this year's appearance in New York, Navarro had never been past the first round at Flushing Meadows.
“I believe that I can play tennis with the best players in the world. I deserve to be on this stage,” Navarro said. “I belong in these rounds of Grand Slams. I can make deep runs.”
Navarro is 23, was born in New York — which she made sure to mention during her post-match interview at Arthur Ashe Stadium — and grew up in South Carolina.
Her father, Ben, is the billionaire founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group. He owns the WTA Tour event in Charleston and attempted to buy the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in 2018.
Navarro played college tennis at the University of Virginia and won an NCAA singles championship for the school as a freshman in 2021.
“When I first left college, my coach and I kind of made a two-year contract that I would fully commit myself to playing professional tennis for two years and then kind of just reassess after that,” said Navarro, who will face Paula Badosa of Spain on Tuesday. “I think I hit the two-year mark this June, and we didn’t even acknowledge it or talk about it. So definitely have surpassed my expectations, for sure. I hope to just keep getting better.”
Navarro has been soaring up the rankings, going from No. 143 at the end of 2022, to No. 38 at the end of last year to her current career-best No. 12. She is seeded 13th at the U.S. Open because the seedings were based on rankings from before last month’s draw.
This has been a real breakthrough season. She is 49-19 in 2024 with her first WTA title, which arrived on a hard court — the same surface used at the U.S. Open — at Hobart, Australia, in January.
“In the past, I’ve seen choices on court — like taking the ball on the rise or moving forward to hit a forehand as opposed to moving back, stuff like that. Those have been choices in the past. Now I see those types of situations as less of a choice and more of, like: I have to take this on in this way,” explained Navarro, who rarely shows much emotion during a match. “Partially because the players I’m playing against, they’ll shut it down if I don’t make that more confident, aggressive choice. And, also, just because I think I have more belief in myself to be able to actually execute those types of shots.”
The 2024 U.S. Open is only her eighth Grand Slam tournament, and the second in a row where she reached the quarterfinals via a victory over Gauff.
Navarro also won their fourth-round matchup in July at Wimbledon, that time by a score of 6-4, 6-3. Earlier at the All England Club, Navarro also eliminated four-time major champion Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon.
Before that showing, which ended with a quarterfinal loss to Jasmine Paolini, Navarro's record in majors was 6-5, including 0-2 at the U.S. Open, where she exited in the first round in 2021 and 2023.
“It’s pretty insane just to talk about winning a Grand Slam or winning a tournament like the U.S. Open. A few months ago, even I wouldn’t have said that,” Navarro said. “So it’s pretty crazy to be sitting here now and have the quarterfinals ahead of me and feel like I’m playing good enough to keep it going.”
Gauff hurt herself with 19 double-faults and 60 total unforced errors, but did credit Navarro with putting pressure on her serve and displaying the same variety as in their Wimbledon match.
“In the future, I have to take care of my serve. She’s a great returner. She does a great job with just redirecting,” Gauff said. “She’s kind of an all-court player. She can do everything.”
The two were Olympic teammates for the United States at the Paris Games and became pals.
Navarro speaks about how much respect she has for Gauff, and they embraced at the net after this match ended.
“She’s super funny. She’s kind of the opposite of how she is on court. She has a lot of personality, but she doesn’t show it as much to you guys,” Gauff said. “She’s super nice. I always root for her. It was a battle today, but if you had to lose, I would rather lose to a good person off the court, you know?”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Emma Navarro, of the United States, returns a shot to Coco Gauff, of the United States, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Sept. 1, in New York. 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Emma Navarro, center, of the United States, embraces Coco Gauff, of the United States, after defeating her in the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Sept. 1, in New York. 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan dropped a number of players including Babar Azam on Sunday as it rung in the changes for the remaining two test matches against England after suffering a historic innings and 47 runs defeat in the first test at Multan.
Babar, who hasn’t scored a half century in his last 18 test innings, was also released from the 16-member squad along with fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and reserve wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed.
“We’ve had to carefully consider current form of the player and the urgency to bounce back in the series,” said Aqib Javed, one of the members of the selection committee. “In the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve made the decision to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi.”
Javed said that the “break from international cricket” will help the rested players to regain their fitness, confidence and composure.
“They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket,” Javed said. “We are fully committed to supporting them during this period so they can come back even stronger.”
Uncapped Haseebullah replaced Sarfaraz as Pakistan also brought in spinners Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mahmood to counter England’s top-order batters in the remaining two test matches with slow bowlers. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was ruled out of the series after he was hospitalized during the first test due to fever.
Pakistan is planning to play the second test on the same pitch where it became the first team to lose a test match after posting 500-plus runs in the first innings. Harry Brook’s scintillating triple century and Joe Root’s patient 262 helped England amass 823-7 declared as Pakistan capitulated for 220 in the second innings inside the first session on the fifth and final day to trail 1-0 in the series.
Another uncapped player, Kamran Ghulam, who has been scoring consistently in domestic cricket, will likely replace Babar at No. 4 and make his debut in the second test, starting Tuesday.
Pakistan has failed to claim 20 wickets in five of its last six test matches with captain Shan Masood losing all six games. Both Afridi and Naseem were among six Pakistan bowlers to concede more than 100 runs in England's record-breaking first-innings score at Multan that was reached at a rate of more than five runs an over.
Since scoring 161 against New Zealand at Karachi in December 2022, Babar has struggled in red-ball cricket — both at home and abroad. His top score of 41 came against Australia at Melbourne last year. Babar also struggled in the previous home series against Bangladesh, scoring only 64 in four innings before he made 30 and 5 in the first test against England.
It had been a turbulent year for Babar since he was recalled as white-ball captain earlier in 2024. Pakistan could win only against Ireland in a bilateral T20 series before making an early exit from the T20 World Cup after losing group matches to the United States and archrival India.
Babar quit the white-ball captaincy earlier this month, saying he wanted to focus on his batting. However, Pakistan’s premier batter struggled against England on a flat wicket in Multan where three of his teammates – captain Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique and Salman Ali Agha — scored centuries in the first innings.
The Pakistan Cricket Board reconstituted its selection committee hours after Pakistan lost the first test, including Javed, former ICC umpire Aleem Dar, former captain Azhar Ali and analyst Hasan Cheema.
Pakistan white-ball batsman Fakhar Zaman criticized the selection committee for dropping Babar and pointed to India, which stood behind Virat Kohli during his struggles in red-ball cricket between 2020-23.
“India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively,” Fakhar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team. There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them.”
Squad: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi, center, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of England's Zak Crawley during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's Naseem Shah bowls during the second day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
England's Chris Woakes, left, appeals successful LBW out of Pakistan's Babar Azam, right, during the first day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's Babar Azam looks back after his dismissal during the fourth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's Babar Azam reacts as he walks off the field after his dismissal during the fourth day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's Babar Azam looks during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Multan, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
