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UVA tennis alum Emma Navarro upsets world #2 Coco Gauff at Wimbledon

Chris Graham
emma navarro uva tennis
Photo: UVA Athletics

UVA tennis alum Emma Navarro pulled a stunning upset at Wimbledon, knocking out world #2 Coco Gauff in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, in a fourth-round match on Sunday.

Navarro, the 2021 NCAA singles champ at Virginia, the #19 seed in the women’s draw, had already defeated former world #1 Naomi Osaka in the second round.

She had to overcome a first-set loss in the third round to overcome Diana Shnaider in three sets to get to the fourth-round match with Gauff, one of the tournament’s favorites.

“I don’t have a ton of words,” Navarro told reporters after the upset, which improved her record in 2024 Grand Slam singles to 9-2.

“Coco’s obviously an amazing player. I have a ton of respect for her, and what she’s done at such a young age is really amazing. I knew she wasn’t going to make it easy on me tonight. But I wanted to play aggressively and push back against her game, and I think I was able to do that,” Navarro said.

The win puts Navarro into the quarterfinal of a Slam event for the first time in her career.

She will next face #7 seed Jasmine Paolini on Tuesday.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].