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Emma Navarro Takes Down World No. 2 Coco Gauff, Reaches Wimbledon Quarterfinals

Matt Newton

Former Virginia women's tennis star Emma Navarro has advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon after knocking off world No. 2 Coco Gauff in straight sets.
Former Virginia women's tennis star Emma Navarro has advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon after knocking off world No. 2 Coco Gauff in straight sets. / Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

2024 is becoming the year of Emma Navarro.

Before this week, the former Virginia women's tennis star had played but one match at Wimbledon and had never won. Now, Navarro is on to the quarterfinals after pulling off a stunning upset.

Facing former world No. 1 and current No. 2 Coco Gauff on Centre Court, it was the No. 19 seed Emma Navarro who looked dominant, defeating Gauff 6-4, 6-3 in an All-American fourth round match at Wimbledon on Sunday night.

Gauff registered three aces and 12 winners, but Navarro bested her with consistency, going a perfect 9/9 on net points, winning three of her four break point opportunities, and only getting broken by Gauff once.

It's been a breakthrough year for the 23-year-old Navarro, who won her first WTA title at the Hobart International in January, reached the third round at the Australian Open, and advanced to the fourth round at the French Open, a run which elevated her to a career-high women's singles ranking of No. 17 in the world.

That ranking will no doubt continue to rise after this week, as Navarro picked up her first-ever Wimbledon victory over Qiang Wang in the first round, dominated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-1 in the second round, and then rallied to beat Diana Shnaider 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round. Now, three years after she won the NCAA singles title at Virginia as a true freshman, Emma Navarro has advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, her first-career quarterfinals appearance at a Grand Slam.

Awaiting Navarro in the quarterfinals is No. 7 seed Italian Jasmine Paolini, whose fourth round victory came against American Madison Keys, who retired due to an injury when the match was tied at 5-5 in the third set. Navarro and Paolini will play on Tuesday (match time TBD) with a spot in the semifinals up for grabs.

Another former Wahoo and NCAA singles champion is also in content in the ladies' singles draw at Wimbledon. Danielle Collins is set to face No. 31 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in the fourth round on Monday at 11:30am ET, looking to secure a spot in her first Wimbledon quarterfinals. Collins and Navarro were both selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.