Emma Navarro continued her breakout season with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka to reach the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. .
Navarro, who won her first WTA title in Hobart this year, was able to defeat the world No. 2 in a back-and-forth match that lasted one hour and 56 minutes.
Navarro earned her 18th win of the season with two breaks in decisive moments, moving her ahead of Iga Swiatek to top the list of WTA wins in 2024.
Sabalenka came into the match fresh off a comfortable win over Emma Raducanu, finishing runner-up at Indian Wells 12 months ago, but has struggled to improve since her recent victory in Melbourne.
It was Navarro who made the crucial opening break of the first set to take a 5-3 lead, and his ace sealed the set and gave the 22-year-old American the upper hand.
The two-time Australian Open champion fought back in the second set to grab a deciding chance, with both players claiming early breaks.
Navarro was able to decisively hold on to three consecutive breaks from both of them to extend his lead to 4-1, and the New Yorker never looked back, taking the best win of his career.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff dominated Elise Mertens, winning 6-0, 6-2 on her 20th birthday and advancing to the quarterfinals.
The dynamic American played her best tennis so far in the tournament, served well, and stepped onto the court to dominate the 24th-seeded Belgian.
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Mertens was unable to back up her win over Naomi Osaka in the previous round, hitting just four winners and making 21 unforced errors in a match that lasted just over an hour.
Sabalenka’s loss leaves third-seeded Gauff with a draw section, and she will face either 11th-seeded Daria Kasatkina (Russia) or unseeded Yuan Yue (China) for a spot in the semifinals.
