Defending US Open champion Coco Gauff faces a difficult fourth-round test against fellow American Emma Navarro at Flushing Meadows but it's one she should ultimately pass.
Gauff, who won her first Grand Slam title in New York 12 months ago, has had a fairly routine run to the fourth round, beating Varvara Gracheva and Tatjana Maria in straight sets in rounds one and two, before battling past Elina Svitolina in the previous round in three sets.
Navarro has also dropped just one set thus far in the tournament, advancing past Anna Blinkova and Arantxa Rus with the minimum of fuss, before a three-set win over Marta Kostyuk last time out.
The way the tournament is shaping up for Gauff, she appears to be in with a good chance of successfully defending the title she won last year when memorably beating Aryna Sabalenka 2–6 6–3 6–2 in the final.
The American looks to be peaking at the right time and is on course to make the quarter-finals with victory over compatriot Navarro on Sunday.
Gauff started her campaign in New York with comfortable straight-sets wins over Gracheva (6-2 6-0) and Maria (6-4 6-0), overpowering both opponents in the second set.
She was then tested by Svitolina, losing the first set 6-3, before displaying plenty of determination and fight to come back and win in three, taking sets two and three to complete a 3-6 6-3 6-3 victory.
Navarro, who has reached this stage for the first time, will probably be her sternest test of the US Open so far as the 23-year-old has been in fine form in NYC.
She saw off Blinkova and Rus by the same 6-1 6-1 scoreline, before overcoming Kostyuk 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the third round.
Navarro won the last time the pair met at Wimbledon earlier this summer but playing on the hard court here, Gauff can prevail, although she may have to do it in three sets again.
There is an expectation that Gauff will come out on top in this tight-looking tie but Navarro will not be dismissed routinely.
Navarro has looked at ease so far in the Grand Slam, with this run to the fourth round her career-best performance in the final major of the year.
She may well end up going out, but can let Gauff know she is in for a tough examination by winning the first set.
Gauff has often started slower than her opponent in matches at Flushing Meadows this year, evidenced by her losing the first set to Svitolina. In contrast, Navarro began well in her third-round win over Kostyuk, winning the first set before losing the second.
While Gauff is expected to win, this should be a close contest between two players who are only separated by nine places in the world rankings - Gauff at three and Navarro 12th - and the first set, in particular, may well be close.
Navarro beat her supposed superior opponent in straight sets in their last meeting, on the grass at SW19, and that should give the underdog confidence ahead of the match, especially in the early stages.
A keenly-fought first set looks to be on the cards then with Navarro tipped to edge it and it may well be advantageous to back over 9.5 total games in the first set at +100 as the two players fight it out for an early advantage.
Emma Navarro | +175 |
Coco Gauff | -225 |
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.