Emma Navarro can beat Aryna Sabalenka to reach US Open final – here’s 3 ways she does it

Oli Dickson Jefford 04 Sep 2024 4:53 PM

Emma Navarro celebrates her US Open quarter-final victory over Paula Badosa.

Emma Navarro faces Aryna Sabalenka for a place in the US Open final.

Emma Navarro will head onto court on Thursday night for the biggest match of her life.

The 13th seed faces world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka in her first Grand Slam semi-final, with a place in the US Open final at stake.

Sabalenka was the favourite for the title coming into the tournament and she is is expected to win this contest, having prevailed convincingly when they met at the French Open.

However, Navarro has beaten Sabalenka before – doing so in their first meeting at Indian Wells back in March.

Ahead of this fascinating semi-final, we look at what the American must do if she wants to upset the odds.

1) Bring the crowd in

Sabalenka loves crowd support and, by and large, is generally a popular figure wherever she plays.

However, there is no denying that the world No 2 was rattled a year ago when she had the entirety of Arthur Ashe against her in the final against Coco Gauff – a match she ultimately lost in three sets.

As an American, Navarro will have the backing of a large majority of the crowd on Thursday night, no matter what happens.

But it does seem imperative that she brings them into the contest as early as possible, and try to send a message to her opponent.

If she can get Sabalenka nervous or unsettled, that will increase her chances significantly.

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2) Go after the second serve

Navarro is a reliable and very consistent returner, and that will be vital for her chances against one of the best servers in the women’s game.

Sabalenka’s past struggles with her serve have been well-documented, as has the transformation that turned her into a two-time Australian Open champion and, at one point last year, the world No 1.

Her first serve is now one of the biggest and best on the WTA but, while it is not a glaring weakness, the second serve is still arguably the most significant vulnerability in her game.

We don’t know how many second serve return opportunities Navarro will be handed; what we do know is that she’ll need to win as many of those points as possible.

Against Paula Badosa in the last eight, she broke five times and won 50% of points on return overall, with the Spaniard winning just 26% of points behind her second serve.

Sabalenka likely won’t be so generous, but similar aggression from Navarro will give her a chance.

3) Defend for her life

One of the best athletes and movers on tour, the 23-year-old may well be put the physical wringer at points in this semi-final.

Few women have ever hit the ball so hard and so relentlessly as Sabalenka does, with her ball-striking often leaving fans – and potentially opponents – awestruck.

Facing Sabalenka, you have to accept you are going to be on the back foot in a significant amount of rallies.

However, though Navarro loves being on the front foot, she is more than capable of defending – and doing it very well.

She was able to employ this tactic effectively at times against Coco Gauff in the fourth round, and there is no reason why she can’t potentially frustrate Sabalenka.

Navarro will look to go toe-to-toe against the Belarusian as much as possible but, when she is not able to do this, her defence is going to be vital for her hopes of success.