Navarro claimed her second consecutive victory over Gauff, having previously defeated her at Wimbledon in July.
“It’s pretty insane, I lost in the first round the last two years,” said Navarro after the match. “Now to make the quarter-finals is pretty insane.”
Error-ridden Gauff unable to sustain comeback
Despite Navarro’s solid performance, the match was marred by the high number of errors from Gauff.
With 19 double faults and a total of 60 unforced errors, Gauff struggled to find her range throughout the match.
Despite the challenges, Gauff managed to push the match to a decider after a hard-fought second set.
Navarro acknowledged the tough battle, stating, “It was tough losing the second set, I had chances. But I regrouped, came into the third set with a fresh mindset, wanted to play aggressive tennis and I think I was able to do that.”
Navarro’s 20 winners and strong serving contrasted with Gauff’s errors, ultimately leading to her victory.
“This is the city I was born in and it feels so special to be playing here,” Navarro expressed after the match.
She also praised Gauff, saying, “Coco is an amazing player, I have a ton of respect for her, I know she’s going to come back and win this one year.”
Navarro, ranked No 12, will face Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 26 seed, in the next match.
Earlier in the tournament, Navarro defeated several top-ranked opponents, including Anna Blinkova, Arantxa Rus, and Marta Kostyuk.
On the other hand, Gauff’s journey to the last 16 included wins against Varvara Gracheva, Tatjana Maria, and Elina Svitolina.
New York (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 75.000.000, most recent results first):
- Iga Swiatek vs. Liudmila Samsonova
- Caroline Wozniacki vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
- Diana Shnaider vs. Jessica Pegula
- Karolina Muchova vs. Jasmine Paolini
- Qinwen Zheng vs. Donna Vekic
- Elise Mertens vs. Aryna Sabalenka
- Paula Badosa beat Yafan Wang: 6-1, 6-2
