Emma Navarro believes attacking Coco Gauff’s forehand was key to her R16 win at Wimbledon as she admitted that she took advantage of fellow-American’s frustration with her team.
The 2023 US Open champion Gauff was the hot favorite before the all-American clash and was expected to take control of the match after breaking to love in the fifth game but Navarro broke back immediately and then dominated throughout the match to dismantle her opponent 6-4, 6-3.
Gauff compiled 25 unforced errors – majority of them coming on forehand – and hit just 12 winners and Navarro confirmed during her post-match press conference that her plan was to attack the forehand her opponent.
“I really wanted to attack her forehand. I think she wanted to do the same to me. We found ourselves in a lot of forehand cross-court rallies. It was kind of a cat and mouse, who’s going to change the pattern first,” the American said.
“I love matches like that where it feels like it’s not just a hitting or striking competition, there’s strategy involved. It feels like a chess match or something. That was really enjoyable for me.
“Then, yeah, I wanted to attack her serve, make her feel like if she’s hitting a second serve, I don’t want her to be comfortable on her second serve, consequentially not comfortable on her first serve.
“Same on my serve, attacking her forehand, making her hit a ton of forehand returns. Yeah, during rallies staying close enough up to the baseline where I’m not giving her too much time.”
Gauff cut a frustrated figure at times during the match and she revealed afterwards that she wanted more input from her team in the coaching box.
“I think today mentally there was a lot going on. I felt like I wanted more direction from the box,” the reigning champion at Flushing Meadows said after the match.
Navarro made the most of the opportunity against her compatriot.
“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,” said the 23-year-old.
“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.
“Yeah, I guess it maybe gave me a little bit of momentum and just some energy that I needed.”