American Emma Navarro, ranked 12th in the world, qualified for her first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open on Tuesday. She defeated Spanish player Paula Badosa (29th) 6-2 7-5.
At 23 years old, she will face either defending finalist Aryna Sabalenka (2nd) or Olympic champion from Paris, Qinwen Zheng (7th) for a spot in the final on Thursday.
In her two previous participations, Navarro had never made it past the first round at the US Open, and her best Grand Slam result until now was the quarter-finals she reached at Wimbledon this year.
Until this year, she had only reached the second round in a Major once (Roland-Garros 2023), but Navarro has made rapid progress this year: 3rd round at the Australian Open, Round of 16 at Roland-Garros, quarter-finals at Wimbledon, and at least semi-finals at Flushing Meadows for her eighth Major.
In New York, in addition to reaching the final four, she also eliminated defending champion Coco Gauff (3rd) in the Round of 16.
Navarro won her first and only WTA title to date this year in January in Hobart on hard court.
/ATS