Bill Simons
New York
SENSATIONAL SEMIS: With the late night four set victory of Frances Tiafoe over the hobbled Grigor Dimitrov, America has placed three stars in the semis. Emma Navarro will face No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka and Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz will face off in the first All-American men’s semis since Andre Agassi beat Robby Ginepri in 2005.
LOVING AMERICA’S EMMA: Britain’s Emma Raducanu came out of nowhere to win the 2021 US Open – a blazing star.
America’s Emma Navarro is not exactly a blazing star. Her emergence has been incredible, but hardly mercurial. But make no mistake: she’s a superstar in the making. Today she shocked veteran Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 to reach the US Open semis, so America might have back-to-back champs. Coco Gauff won last year.
Yet, there’s something a tad underwhelming about Navarro. The biggest, and only main-draw tournament she’s won was in Hobart, Australia, population 206,000. Her forehand doesn’t bring Steffi Graf to mind. Gauff has a better backhand. Navarro’s serve is fine, but not a blur. She’s not lightning fast.
But she has such a strong foundation, she’s graceful, and she has a light-footed athleticism that impresses. And she’s oh-so methodical. Peter Ayers, who’s coached her since she was 14, commented, “Emma has always been an incremental achiever…She’s valued all the experiences she’s gone through, and that’s gradually pushed her forward.”
Yes, a year ago, Navarro had a lowly ranking and was playing in gritty outbacks of the sport like Tyler, Texas. This year, she’s had a stepping stone-like progression. She got to the third round at the Aussie Open, the fourth round at Roland Garros, and the Wimbledon quarters. Amazingly, she’s now into the Top 10.
But today there were dicey moments against the veteran Badosa.
Emma won the first set 6-2 – but then she completely lost her momentum. Paula went up 5-1 in the second set. Emma was adrift.
But the 23-year-old is a fighter. A product of college tennis, she views each match as a dual match: “You against me, baby!” And Emma’s secret power is her calm. Ayers noted, “She’s always had this wonderful ability to have an amazing poker face, and this sense of calm that she projects outwardly.”
Yes, in the Wimbledon quarterfinals against Jasmine Paolini, Navarro had felt overwhelmed. But that was then. She now claims she’s comfortable on every stage.
Resilience is a key. For years, coach Ayers has told Emma, “I want you to strive to be perfect at bouncing back. Stuff’s going to happen…So let’s strive to be perfect at bouncing back.
“When you get a bad line call or you break a string or the sun is in your eyes, whatever, revel in it. After matches, my staple question was…’How was your bounce back today?’…That’s my idea of perfection.”
Navarro was on the brink of losing the second set. But she bounced back and won 24 of the last 28 points. Now that’s a bounce back. And the US Open semifinalist now seems to be bouncing up to the tennis stratosphere.
THERE’S MAGIC IN THE AIR FOR FRITZ: Taylor Fritz was tired – tired of falling short. America’s foremost player had time and again gone deep into Slams. But he was sick of falling short. Four times he’d failed in the quarterfinals.
So today he used his aggressive groundies, his improved forward movement, the variety in his serve and his clutch play in tiebreakers to down the No. 4 seed, Alexander Zverev 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3). After his win, unlike at Wimbledon, there was no controversy at the net. After losing to Fritz, In London Zverev complained that there was too much noise coming from Taylor’s box.
Today there was a lot of noise coming from the crowd that chanted, “USA! USA!” and from Fritz’s racket. Taylor is now just two matches from becoming the first American Slam champ since 2003.
And the quiet reality was that many were relieved that Zverev lost. The controversy relating to charges of domestic abuse that were leveled against him haven’t entirely vanished. Tennis wasn’t exactly relishing the prospect of a US Open final featuring Zverev facing Jannik Sinner, who’s shaking off his drug use controversy.
Still, Zverev is the greatest player to have never won a Slam. He came within points of winning the US Open, and 11 times he’s reached a major quarterfinal. After his loss he said, “I did nothing to deserve to win today…I don’t remember…hitting my backhand this badly…Normally wake me up at 3 AM and I would not miss.”
Meanwhile, Fritz’s backers recalled his run to the 2022 Indian Wells title in front of a hometown crowd. Then, despite his ankle injury and playing against Nadal, there was magic in the air. And today there was a little magic in Flushing Meadows.
BRYANS, SHARAPOVA NOMINATED FOR HALL OF FAME: California natives Bob and Mike Bryan, the winningest team in doubles history, have been nominated for induction in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2025. Maria Sharapova, who won five singles Slams, along with Canadian Daniel Nestor, who claimed 12 doubles Grand Slams, are also nominees.
FEDERER SPEAKS OUT ON SINNER: Roger Federer spoke out on Jannik Sinner’s doping case saying, “It’s not something we want to see in our sport…regardless if he did something or not…It’s just noise that we don’t want. I understand the frustration of has he been treated the same as others? And I think this is where it comes down to. We all trust pretty much [that] at the end he didn’t do anything,” Federer said on the Today Show. “But the inconsistency, potentially, that he didn’t have to sit out while they were not 100% sure what was going on…That’s the question here that needs to be answered.”
ANOTHER TAYLOR TRIUMPHS: Taylor Fritz wasn’t the only American named Taylor who excelled today. To the delight of many, Taylor Townsend and Donald Young advanced to the mixed doubles final. Townsend and Katerina Siniakova, who won Wimbledon, will play in the women’s doubles semis tomorrow.
FUN FACT: In 45 of the last women’s Slam semifinals there have been 40 first-time players.
COCO’S SERVE AND FOLLY: Coco Gauff’s serve is the most scrutinized shot in the sport.
A brief tutorial last year with Andy Roddick seemed to help for a while. But her results this year have been underwhelming, and her 19 double faults against Navarro were an embarrassment. Her coach Brad Gilbert said she serves fine in practice.
Not surprisingly, many suggestions came her way: get into trophy position; don’t dip your head; get a reliable second serve at 85 mph that you roll into the middle of the service box just to get the point going.
Others suggested that she have an extended visit with Serena, who had the best women’s serve in history, or just get a serving coach. There are questions. Can she win big with such a problematic serve? Can she do a major mid-career correction as Aryna Sabalenka has done? Baseball has hitting instructors, golf has stroke coaches, and free throw coaches make a good living. Why isn’t “serving coach” a thing in tennis?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Both Emma Navarro and Paula Badosa were born in New York to parents who worked in high-powered fields. Nararro’s father is a banker and financier. Badosa’s mother was a model.
New York’s most famous tennis natives include John and Pat McEnroe, Vitas Guerulitis and Mary Carillo. Yannick Noah and Steffi Graf each had brief stays in the Big Apple.
PASSING THE BRITISH TORCH: As four-time Wimbledon semi finalist Tim Henman began to fade, Andy Murray stepped up and continued to hold British hopes high. Now that Murray has retired, will No. 25 Jack Draper be able to win big for the Brits?
