Coco’s Gone.
In an All-American showdown at the U.S. Open, defending champion Coco Gauff got eliminated by New York-born Emma Navarro.
Under-the-radar Emma – as she calls herself –is now in the spotlight.
And the U.S. Open quarterfinals, thanks to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
“It’s pretty insane. I lost in the first round the last two years,” Navarro said in an on-court TV interview. “It’s the city I was born in, and it feels so special to be playing here.”
Last year Gauff claimed her first Major here in Flushing.
A season ago, Navarro was ranked 149th in the world, playing in a $25,000 tournament in Naples.
Now she has unseated Gauff — her Olympic roommate, both wearing their Olympic necklaces — and reached the U.S. Open quarterfinal. And she did it thanks to Gauff’s sloppiness.
Gauff missed balls, failed to put them in play, and couldn’t buy a first serve.
Her unsightly 19th double fault — 11th in the third set alone — handed Navarro match point. And Navarro didn’t waste it.
“Coco is an amazing player; I have a ton of respect for her. I know she’s gonna come back and win this one year,” said Navarro, adding “Go New York.”
After Navarro was just 1-4 in the first four Slams of her budding career, she’s now 10-3 so far this year.
Gauff had the most double faults on the entire WTA tour this year, and she committed three on her very first service game.
She managed to overcome them, but it just established the tone of a set she eventually dropped 6-3.
An eighth Gauff double fault helped Navarro break to go up 4-3 in the second set. But with Navarro up a break and 30-love, she played her only sloppy game of the match and let Gauff get her first break of the afternoon to knot it.
It marked an upset for Navarro, though not a shock.
Gauff hadn’t been rolling the way she was when she claimed the title here last year. She had to come from a set down in the third round to beat Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
