Coco Gauff falls in US Open title defense, losing in fourth round to Emma Navarro

Coco Gauff will not retain her US Open title as American Emma Navarro advanced past her compatriot in the fourth round, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

It’s Navarro’s second consecutive win against the 20-year-old Gauff, and it comes at the same stage in a grand slam tournament: At Wimbledon in July, Navarro had bested Gauff in the fourth round, 6-4, 6-3.

“I lost in the first round the last two years. Now to be making quarterfinals is pretty insane,” Navarro said in her interview on court. “This is the city I was born in and it feels so special to be playing here.

“Coco’s an amazing player, and I have a ton of respect for her and I know she’s going to come back here and win this thing again one year.”

In the quarterfinals, Navarro, 23, will face another player who was born in New York: No. 26 seed Paula Badosa of Spain, who defeated Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-2 earlier Sunday.

Navarro, the No. 13 seed and currently ranked 12th in the world, did what she could to counter Gauff’s power and to direct shots toward Gauff’s forehand – which is not the strongest shot for the world No. 3.

Tennis legend Chris Evert, doing analysis on the match for ESPN, called Navarro a “human backboard.”

Gauff, meanwhile, wasn’t getting what she needed from her serve, with five double faults in the opening set, including one at 15-40 to give Navarro a 4-2 lead.

Navarro obtained the break in the seventh game of the second set, hitting a forehand down the line on the run for a 4-3 advantage. Navarro, however, faltered and kept the door open, allowing Gauff to rattle off three wins in a row to force a final set.

But double faults continued to plague Gauff. In the third game of the third set, Gauff had three more of the crucial mistakes, including the final two points to give Navarro the break and a 2-1 lead.

For the match, Gauff had 19 double faults (including 11 in the third set) and 60 unforced errors to just 14 winners.