Gauff was eliminated from Wimbledon on Sunday when American Emma Navarro, ranked 19th in the field, defeated No. 2 Coco Gauff in straight sets in the round of 16.
The 23-year-old Navarro beat Gauff 6-4, 6-3 in just an hour and 14 minutes and will face seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Navarro has won each of her previous three meetings with Paolini.
This was Navarro’s first Grand Slam quarterfinal and the win will undoubtedly be the biggest of her career.
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Coco Gauff is photographed during a match at Wimbledon in London on July 7, 2024. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Navarro and Gauff will be teammates at this year’s Paris Olympics, with the latter beating Navarro in the semifinals in Auckland earlier this year.
It was Navarro’s second career win over a top-two player, having beaten then-No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells this year.
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The key to Navarro’s match Sunday was her ability to score at the net, as she was a perfect 9 of 9 on the forecourt to beat Gauff, who was 8 of 12 at the net.
Gauff also struggled with her forehand throughout the match, making 16 unforced errors to Navarro’s 10. Match point came on one of those errors, when Gauff’s forehand hit the net and Navarro clinched the victory.
Emma Navarro celebrates after winning a match point against Japan’s Naomi Osaka during the second round of the Wimbledon Championships on July 3, 2024. (Sean M. Hafey/Getty Images)
Gauff’s loss followed another shocking incident earlier this weekend, when world No. 1 women’s singles player Iga Swiatek suffered an unexpected 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 loss to Yulia Putintseva in the third round on Saturday.
Navarro, the daughter of American billionaire businessman Ben Navarro, founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group, which owns Credit One Bank, has also beaten former world number one Naomi Osaka in her previous Wimbledon encounters.
Navarro has competed in some big matches in her career, including winning the NCAA singles championship at the University of Virginia in 2021.
But the stakes are clearly much higher heading into Tuesday, where she will hope to continue her quest for a Grand Slam title.
Coco Gauff is photographed during a match at Wimbledon in London on July 7, 2024. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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And even if Navarro falls short of that goal, she’s likely to finish in the top 15 in the world rankings no matter what happens next.
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