It’s time for the final stages of the tournament at the 2024 US Open. The women’s singles semi-final matches will take place on Friday, September 6. The second to take to the court at Arthur Ash Stadium will be the world number 12, American tennis player Emma Navarro, and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who currently occupies the second position in the WTA rankings.
In January of this year, Navarro claimed her first professional title, winning a tournament in Hobart. Emma’s best result at the TBS before the current US Open is reaching the fourth round of Roland Garros 2024. And finally at Wimbledon she broke the first round barrier for the first time.
In juniors, Navarro has already qualified for the final of a major. The American lost to Leila Fernandez in the title battle at the 2019 French Open. Emma had no problems and could not have any problems developing her career, because her father is the American financier Ben Navarro, a billionaire who made his fortune in banking. Sources give different information about Navarro’s fortune: Forbes, for example, estimates it at 1.5 billion dollars and the Daily Mail at 3.8 billion dollars. In this, Emma Navarro is similar to her compatriot Jessica Pegula, whose father also has an impressive fortune.
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Emma did not lose a single game to her opponents in her first two home matches at TBS, defeating Russian Anna Blinkova and Dutch Arancha Rus by the same score – 6:1 and 6:1 respectively. In the 1/16 finals, the American was stronger than Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in a three-set match – 6:4, 4:6, 6:3. And in the fourth round, Navarro knocked out the reigning champion of the competition, Coco Gauff, 6:3, 4:6, 6:3. In the quarter-finals, the home favourite defeated Spaniard Paula Badosa 6:2, 7:5. It is noteworthy that in the second game the world number 12 was inferior by a score of 1:5, but managed to come back in the set, hanging a hidden shuttlecock!
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First round. Navarro (ranked 12th/seeded 13th) – Blinkova (81) – 6:1, 6:1. Second round. Navarro – Russia (93) – 6:1, 6:1. Third round. Navarro – Kostyuk (19) – 6:4, 4:6, 6:3. Fourth round. Navarro – Gauff (3) – 6:3, 4:6, 6:3. Quarter-finals. Navarro – Badosa (ranked 29th/seeded 26th) – 6:2, 7:5.
Sabalenka had only one problem in the four matches before the semi-final. In the third round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova, the Belarusian had to come back in sets 2:6, 6:1, 6:2. In matches with Australian Priscilla Hong, Italian Lucia Bronzetti, Belgian Elise Mertens and Chinese Zheng Qingwen, Arina did not allow herself such freedom. Thus, the 26-year-old Sabalenka repeated Serena Williams’ achievement eight years ago on TBS Hard. The representative of Belarus became the first tennis player since Serena Williams (2015-2016) to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the US Open two years in a row. Let us add that the second racket player in the world reached the semi-finals of the New York Slam for the fourth time in a row.
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First round. Sabalenka (2) – Khon (203) – 6:3, 6:3. Second round. Sabalenka – Bronzetti (76) – 6:3, 6:1. Third round. Sabalenka – Alexandrova (ranked 31st/seeded 29th) – 2:6, 6:1, 6:2. Fourth round. Sabalenka – Mertens (ranked 35th/seeded 33rd) – 6:4, 4:6, 6:3. Quarter-finals. Sabalenka – Zheng Qingwen (7) – 6:1, 6:2.
History of face-to-face confrontations.
The result of the head-to-head matches is the same: 1-1. Both matches took place this year. Navarro won in the fourth round on hard court in Indian Wells 6:3, 3:6, 6:2, and Sabalenka won in the same round on clay at Roland Garros 6:2, 6:3.
A story of personal encounters. Navarro – Sabalenka – 1-1
No.YearTournamentCoatingSceneryWinnerResult12024Indian WellsHardFourth roundNavarro6:3, 3:6, 6:222024Roland GarrosDirtThird roundSabolenka6:2, 6:3
New confrontation
Immediately after reaching her first semi-final on TBS, Emma Navarro turned to her father.
“I want to thank my father. I think he felt something when I was very little. He saw something in me from a very young age. Thank you, Dad, for sending me on this journey.”
“The team also means a lot to me. My coach and I have been together since I was 14 or 15. It’s been eight years. We’ve done a wonderful job together. Thank you for everything you do, for your dedication, for the time you put into this journey and for making me the player I am,” Navarro said in an on-court interview.
EMMA NAVARRO
Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The owner of the courts also explained how she came back from 1-5 down in the second set of the 2024 US Open quarter-finals in the battle against Badosa.
“At 2:5 I had the idea that the match could end in straight sets… I always say that I don’t see the future, but today maybe it worked a little bit,” Navarro said in an on-court interview.
Sabalenka, in turn, spoke about how to attract American fans to her side in the upcoming semi-final of the American Major. An interesting conversation with the athlete took place on the court after the victorious quarter-final match.
— A year ago, you played an American in the final of the tournament. This year, you will also play an American in the semi-finals. What are you going to do to win over the crowd that will come to the match?
“The drinks will be on me,” said the athlete.
ARINA SOBOLENKO
Photo: Luke Hales/Getty Images
Domestic experts also spoke out on the eve of the upcoming face-to-face duel between Arina and Emma. Russian tennis player Natalya Vikhlyantseva noted that Sabalenka will also have a fairly easy time in the match against Navarro at the US Open, as in the previous rounds of the tournament.
“The match between Arina Sabalenka and Emma Navarro will be very interesting. Of course, the Belarusian shows incredible tennis. You can see how easily she outplays her opponents. Zheng Qingwen herself is a brilliant tennis player who beat many during the tournament in New York and was no longer so tired after the Olympics. But Arina passed the Chinese with great confidence.
Yes, Emma has victories in this tournament over Coco Gauff and Paula Badosa. However, Navarro will have a tough time in the fight with Arina. I would like the semi-final to consist of at least two more difficult sets. But the Belarusian beat the same Zheng Qingwen 6:1, 6:2. I think that in the match against Navarro at the US Open Sabalenka will also have a fairly easy time,” Vikhlyantseva noted.
Eurosport sports commentator Ilya Ryvlin shared his expectations for the battle between the Belarusian and the American.
“I think it could be a very tough fight. Sabalenka is the favourite, but Navarro has already beaten some strong opponents, is having a tremendous season and has won more matches on hard courts than any other player. What impresses me most is Emma’s self-confidence. Against Badosa she was down 1:5 in the second set with no chance, but she won one game and believed she could win in two games. In any case, that’s what she said in the post-match interview and I want to believe her. It was clear how Navarro psychologically suppressed Badosa, and Paula simply didn’t know what to do, although at that moment she still had a big advantage.
Arina makes a strong impression, she played well with Zheng Qingwen, her serve worked very well, but if the serve doesn’t fly (and Sabalenka does), if the powerful attacking shots don’t hit, then Emma will have a chance. Sabalenka won convincingly at Roland Garros, but in Indian Wells there was only one three-set match in which the American won. Here the crowd will push her forward, because everyone wants to see an American in the final, and also a native of New York. I still think that the Belarusian should win, but I don’t think it will be an easy match,” Metaratings.by quotes Ryvlin as saying.
NAVARRO AND SOBOLENKO
Photo: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
In the upcoming battle between the girls, Aryna Sabalenka is undoubtedly the clear favourite. The 26-year-old tennis player already has experience in winning TBS and last year she reached the title match in New York, where she lost to Coco Gauff. Arina approaches the face-to-face confrontation with a new opponent with an unbeaten streak of 10 matches. Will Emma Navarro be able to create the second biggest sensation in the women’s section of the US Open 2024 draw in front of the home crowd? We will find out very soon.
The match between Emma and Arina will take place on Friday, September 6. It starts at 2:00 Moscow time. Follow all the events of the US Open 2024 in the “Championship”.
