Emma Navarro Stuns Aryna Sabalenka At Indian Wells As Coco Gauff, Daniil Medvedev Advance
NDTV
Emma Navarro's victory continues a strong season for the 22-year-old, who won the WTA title in Hobart and reached the semi-finals in Auckland and San Diego.
American Emma Navarro shocked Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Wednesday as Coco Gauff sailed through. Navarro, ranked 23rd in the world, pushed Sabalenka hard on a breezy Stadium Court to notch her first career win over a top-five player 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. US Open champion Gauff, seeded third, celebrated her 20th birthday with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 victory over Belgian Elise Mertens. It wasn't quite so easy for last year's men's runner-up Daniil Medvedev, but the fourth-seeded Russian managed the windy conditions to post a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
Navarro's victory continues a strong season for the 22-year-old, who won the WTA title in Hobart and reached the semi-finals in Auckland and San Diego.
"It's definitely cool to be able to play an opponent like that and feel like I can hang and I can win," she said. "I've worked really hard over the years to kind of just get to this point and be able to play at a level that can compete with the best players in the world.
"I think that showed today," she added. "She made it really tough on me today, but I was able to play some good tennis in the big moments."
Sabalenka, meanwhile, has found it frustrating since her successful title defense at the year's first Grand Slam. The Belarusian's fourth-round exit follows her opening-match defeat in Dubai last month.