Emma Navarro is set to make her Grand Slam semifinal debut at the U.S. Open, where she will face Aryna Sabalenka, who is aiming for her second major title of the year and her third overall.

Navarro, the 13th seed from the United States, executed a remarkable comeback in her quarterfinal match against Paula Badosa, winning the last six games to secure a 6-2, 7-5 victory at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday, following her earlier upset of defending champion Coco Gauff.

“Sometimes when you’re on the court, you can envision playing a third set. However, when I was out there, I didn’t see myself going to a third set,” Navarro reflected, despite trailing 5-1 in the second set. “I felt like I could turn it around and finish it in two sets.”

And she certainly did.

In contrast, Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over seventh-seeded Zheng Qinwen, the gold medalist from the Paris Olympics last month, in a rematch of their Australian Open final encounter.

With Roger Federer in attendance for the first time since his retirement, Sabalenka delivered a powerful performance, advancing to the semifinals in New York for the fourth consecutive year. In 2023, she was the runner-up to Gauff.

Sabalenka noted seeing Federer in the audience and assumed he was there to watch the upcoming match between Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov.

“Still, I thought, I need to play my best tennis so he enjoys it. I want to showcase my skills, including my slice and net play,” said the 26-year-old Belarusian, known for her strength, with a smile.

She aims to become the first woman since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to win both the Australian Open and U.S. Open hard-court titles in the same year. Sabalenka previously defeated Zheng in January to claim her second consecutive title at Melbourne Park.

“I believe that next time I face her, I should focus on maintaining rallies better and playing with a bit more composure,” Zheng commented. “Clearly, I entered today’s match feeling quite nervous.”

The competitors in the other women’s semifinal will be determined on Wednesday, featuring No. 1 Iga Swiatek against No. 6 Jessica Pegula, while No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia faces unseeded Karolina Muchova.

In the men’s quarterfinals on Tuesday, No. 12 Taylor Fritz from the U.S. secured his first spot in the semifinals of a major tournament by defeating 2020 U.S. Open finalist Alexander Zverev with a score of 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Fritz had previously lost all four of his Grand Slam quarterfinal matches but finally achieved victory over Zverev, the No. 4 seed, whom he also overcame in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

“I’ve had numerous opportunities in quarterfinals over the past few years, and today felt different,” Fritz remarked. “I truly believed it was my moment to advance further.”

Tiafoe became the third American semifinalist when Grigor Dimitrov retired due to injury in the fourth set. Tiafoe was ahead 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 4-1 and will face the 12th-seeded Fritz in the semifinals on Friday, ensuring that the U.S. will have a male finalist in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2006.

Navarro was on the brink of a third set against Badosa but rallied to win the next four points, initiating a run where she claimed 24 of the final 28 points in the match.

“Things weren’t looking great there in the second set, but I just tried to stay tough, hang in there, and make her hit one more ball,” Navarro explained. “I felt that if I could grind out a few longer rallies, I could apply some pressure and potentially close it out in two sets. I’m pleased with how I managed to do that.”

Before this year, Navarro had never won a match in the main draw of her home Grand Slam.

Badosa referred to herself as a “disaster” while coping with the pressure of aiming for her first Grand Slam semifinal.

Badosa expressed her frustration, stating, “I struggled to find my rhythm throughout the match. I managed to play decently in four or five games, but despite the score being 5-1, I never felt fully present on the court. I lost nearly 20 points consecutively, which is unusual for me as I typically maintain a consistent performance, so this outcome was unexpected.”

Navarro had previously defeated Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon before falling to Jasmine Paolini, the eventual runner-up, in a swift match that ended 6-2, 6-1 in under an hour.

The 2021 NCAA singles champion from Virginia was well-prepared for this contest against fellow New Yorker Badosa, quickly taking the first three games and capitalizing on an opportunity late in the match.

With this victory, Navarro became the sixth player in the past four decades to advance to the U.S. Open semifinals without having won a match in the main draw before, joining the ranks of recent champions like Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and Emma Raducanu in 2021.