Women’s singles defending champion Coco Gauff became the latest big-name casualty to crash out of the US Open when Emma Navarro won their fourth round match 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Sunday night to beat her stunned American compatriot for the second time in a Grand Slam this year.
Gauff had been looking to avenge her defeat by Navarro at Wimbledon, where she lost in the fourth round, but the 13th seed stunned the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium with an aggressive and dominant all-round display that had Gauff searching for answers.
Gauff was her own worst enemy, however, especially on serve where the 20-year-old third seed struggled and had 19 double faults — as many as she had in her first three matches combined — while she also made 60 unforced errors.
Navarro’s victory moved her into a second Grand Slam quarter-final where she will play Spain’s 26th seed Paula Badosa, while defeat for Gauff will see her drop out of the top five in the world rankings.
In men’s singles, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov dashed a comeback attempt by sixth seed Andrey Rublev to reach the US Open quarter-finals for the first time since 2019 with a 6-3, 7-6, 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 victory in the early hours of Monday.
The ninth seed won 80 percent of his first-serve points and fired 17 aces to frustrate the Russian, who slammed his racket against the Arthur Ashe Stadium court and his own body, which resulted in a cut wrist that required medical attention in the first set.
The evenly matched clash swung the Bulgarian’s way in the decisive fifth set to the delight of the New York crowd, which included Serena Williams sipping the event’s signature honey deuce cocktail.
Rublev’s frustration spilled over when he started the fourth game of the first set with two double faults, and he blasted a forehand into the net and another wide for Dimitrov’s first break of the match.
Also read: US Open: Sinner, Alcaraz survive scare as Swiatek, Osaka advance
Belarusian women’s second seed Aryna Sabalenka eased past Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last eight. The Australian Open champion and former finalist will next face the winner of the match between Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic.
German fourth seed Alexander Zverev recovered from a first-set loss to beat American Brandon Nakashima 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 and seal his place in the men’s quarter-finals, where he will face Taylor Fritz.
