Two sets, and the seventh seed was gone
Emma Navarro handled the biggest name left in her section of the draw without needing a third set. The 26th seed beat No. 7 Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-5 on Friday in New York to reach the US Open fourth round.
The first set went comfortably. The second did not, and Muchova pushed it to 5-5 before Navarro broke and served it out. On paper the seeding gap was 19 places in the Czech’s favour. On court it read the other way for most of two hours.
Muchova arrived in New York as a Wimbledon finalist. She lost that final to her compatriot Linda Noskova in July, in the first all-Czech women’s final at the All England Club. A run like that usually carries into the hard-court swing. This one stopped in the third round.
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This is Navarro’s first US Open fourth round since 2024, the year she reached the semi-finals here. That run remains the high point of her career at a major, and the two seasons since have been about getting back to that level rather than building on it.
The 2024 tournament also produced the shape of her game that works on this surface. She grinds, she absorbs pace, and she asks opponents to hit through her for four or five shots more than they want to. Muchova, whose tennis depends on variety and forward movement, spent long stretches of Friday doing exactly that.
A draw thinning out fast
Muchova joins a growing list. Belinda Bencic went out to Ann Li, Diana Shnaider fell to the unseeded Taylor Townsend, and Jasmine Paolini was beaten by Sorana Cirstea, all in the space of a few days.
Navarro is two wins from a second US Open semi-final. The players between her and it are fewer seeds than the bracket promised.
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