Tennis-Undaunted Navarro takes on resurgent Badosa in U.S. Open quarters
By Rohith Nair
Sept 2 (Reuters) -Three Americans are in the mix, including Emma Navarro, as the U.S. Open enters the business end of the tournament on Tuesday with the first set of quarter-finals at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
With former champions Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz exiting early, the men's draw was blown wide open, and Americans Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz will fancy their chances.
Women's second seed Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka will have her work cut out when she takes on China's Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen while Navarro will hope to continue her dream run having knocked out defending champion Coco Gauff.
TOP WOMEN'S MATCH: BADOSA V NAVARRO
Paula Badosa may be flying the Spanish flag but she was born in New York, as was her quarter-final opponent Navarro whose aggressive and confident approach helped her stun Gauff in the fourth round.
Badosa has been on a commendable run after her return from injury, with her back finally responding well enough for her to win a first title in two years in the U.S. swing before battling her way to the quarter-finals, earning a first match on Ashe.
"I had the talent and I knew I could get back to the top. I just needed my physical part to respond. The mental (part) and the tennis was there," she said.
"So it's finally working really well these couple of months. I think the work is paying off."
Navarro passed her debut on Ashe with flying colours to oust Gauff and will now get another opportunity to compete in the arena as the 13th seed seeks her first Grand Slam semi-final.
"We played each other in Rome earlier this year on clay. She beat me there. But I think it's definitely valuable to have played on Ashe once. I hope to have the American fans behind me," she said.
TOP MEN'S MATCH: TIAFOE V DIMITROV
After three straight sets victories, Grigor Dimitrov was tested in the last-16 by Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev before the Bulgarian came out on top in five sets.
He has fond memories of making the quarter-finals in 2019, when he beat Roger Federer in five sets and the 33-year-old, the oldest player left in the draw, has banked on his experience in the crucial points to get this far.
"Everyone knows how to play great tennis, it comes down to a few points here and there and that's what actually happened (against Rublev)," Dimitrov said.
"For me it's another match. Clearly he (Tiafoe) has been playing great tennis here, building great confidence the past three weeks, playing well in Cincinnati (where he reached the final), winning some great matches out here."
Tiafoe has seen a remarkable improvement in form midway through the year which coincided with hiring David Witt as his coach, with the 26-year-old saying making "tough decisions" has worked wonders as he looks to reach the semi-finals again.
"I think it's huge to have the right people around you. I have great people around me," he said.
"... Put the right people in place for me to start doing well, having those tough conversations. Even if I don't want to have them, have them."
U.S. OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON TUESDAY
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (1600 GMT/12 PM ET)
26-Paula Badosa (Spain) v 13-Emma Navarro (U.S.)
12-Taylor Fritz (U.S.) v 4-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
NIGHT SESSION (2300 GMT/7 PM ET)
7-Zheng Qinwen (China) v 2-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
9-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) v 20-Frances Tiafoe (U.S.)
Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
