Navarro drops semifinal match to Coco Gauff in AO tune-up match

Even in defeat, WTA wunderkind Emma Navarro was impressive.

 

The 22-year-old Charleston resident competed in the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, and her semifinal match against Coco Gauff was a blast from the past. 

 

Gauff topped Navarro 6-3, 6-1 in a semifinal and went on to win her second consecutive ASB title, an event that is a tune-up for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open.

 

“Definitely it’s a good start to my 2024,” said Gauff, who fell to World No. 4 despite gaining her seventh WTA title. “Emma is an incredible player. We played each other when I was 12 years old and she was 15. It’s really cool to play on this stage.”

 

Gauff, who won the U.S. Open in 2023, needed only 62 minutes to top Navarro, who was the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Navarro remains World No. 31 in the latest WTA rankings, which were released Jan. 8.

 

Navarro had a challenge in the first round of the ASB, rallying to gain a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. She breezed past Elina Avanesyan 6-1, 6-2 in the Round of 16 and advanced to the semifinal after defeating Petra Martic 6-4, 6-3 in the quarters.

 

Navarro will play in her first Australian Open as a professional, and is seeded No. 27 in the AO, which will be contested Jan. 14-28. Navarro played in the Junior Australian Open in 2019 as an amateur.