US Open: Who is Emma Navarro, the woman who beat defending champion Coco Gauff?

NEW YORK -- 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?”

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