Emma Navarro won the battle of the Americans at Wimbledon on Saturday as she dumped out second seed Coco Gauff with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. There was a moment in the second set when Gauff flipped out and raged at her box.
It was at exactly that point, with Navarro leading 4-1, that she realised she had complete control of the tie.
Gauff was expected to reach at least the semi-finals after all the other top seeds in her half of the draw fell in the first week.
But it is Navarro who progressed to her first Grand Slam quarter-final, where she takes on French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini.
Reflecting on the match, Navarro explained how Gauff’s angry outburst helped to get her over the line.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a little bit of a confidence boost, just knowing that your game plan is doing what you wanted it to do,” she said.
“I don’t normally give the other side of the court too much energy. I keep it on my side of the court.
“Yeah, I guess seeing her kind of frustrated and looking at her box, putting her arms up in the air, it’s definitely a little bit of a confidence boost.
“I guess it maybe gave me a little bit of momentum and just some energy that I needed.
Navarro is confident of pulling off another upset when she takes to the court on Tuesday.
“It will be me versus her. Obviously it will be in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. It’s going to be my tennis versus hers. Hopefully it will speak for itself,” she explained.
“Yeah, she’s been on this stage before not too long ago. I don’t know if that will work to her advantage. I’ll be ready to play. I’ll be really excited to play.”