Emma Navarro rode a stunning turnaround right into her first Grand Slam semifinal, beating Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 at the US Open on Tuesday to follow up her upset of defending champion Coco Gauff.
Trailing 5-1 in the second set and three points from having to go to a deciding third, Navarro won the next four points to stay alive, starting a stretch in which she captured 24 of the final 28 points of the match.
Navarro, the No. 13-seeded American who had never even won a match in the main draw of her home major before this year, advanced to face No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka or seventh-seeded Qinwen Zheng in Thursday’s semis.
The 23-year-old Navarro, who ousted the No. 3-seeded Gauff on Sunday in the fourth round, ran through the first set in 29 minutes before the No. 26-seeded Badosa opened a 5-1 lead in the second.
