WTA US Open semifinals
Navarro – Sabalenka: 05.09.2024 22:30 CEST
H2H: 1-1
Emma Navarro has won five straight matches. She is the biggest American hope right now. Emma won her first two matches here in New York convincingly 6-1. In the first round of the tournament, Emma dominated Blinkova in straight sets, spending less than an hour on the court. After that, in the second round, Emma defeated Rus in straight sets as well. She had a great serving performance, saving all four breakpoints. In the third round, Navarro worked hard against Kostyuk, winning in three tight sets. This was the first match where she faced a top-20 player. Navarro stayed calm under pressure, and won the most important points of the deciding set. Emma upset Coco Gauff in the 1/8-Finals of the tournament. She was an underdog, but kept fighting throughout the whole match, and eventually won in three tight sets once again. Navarro won against Coco just two months ago at Wimbledon as well. With those two wins against Gauff, Navarro showed us that she is ready for the biggest stage. Yesterday in the quarterfinals, Emma defeated Badosa in straight sets as we predicted. Navarro was all over the court, and even came back in the second set, after she was 1-5 down. This will be her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance.
Aryna Sabalenka has won her last 10 matches. Before the US Open, Sabalenka defeated Pegula in the Cincinnati final, which was a great preparation tournament for the US Open. Here in New York, Sabalenka lost only one set en route to the quarterfinals. In the first round, Sabalenka won against Hon, who is ranked outside the top 200, in straight sets. After that, in the second round, Aryna defeated Bronzetti in straight sets once again. Aryna served great throughout the whole match, not offering any breakpoints. Her toughest match was in the third round against Alexandrova. Aryna lost the first set 2-6, but stayed calm and turned the match around. In the 1/8-Finals, Sabalenka dominated against Mertens, winning in easy straight sets. This time, Sablenka scored eight breakpoints, but saved all of them. She played aggressively well, hitting 41 winners with 28 unforced errors. In the quarterfinals, Aryna dominated against Zheng, losing only three games in the match. Sabalenka offered only one breakpoint at the beginning of the first set, but saved it. She has reached the semifinals here in New York for the fourth year in a row. Last year in New York, Aryna lost in the final of the tournament against Coco Gauff.
Best Bet to Make
According to the bookies, Navarro is the big underdog in this matchup. They have only played once on the hard court, which was earlier this year in Indian Wells. Emma upset Sabalenka in the 1/8-Finals of the tournament. We believe that she will be able to keep this match tight. Navarro is having the best tournament of her young career, so we expect her to play without any pressure.
That being said, Navarro covering the games handicap is a value bet.
Value bet/ the best odds: Emma Navarro +4.5 games handicap @1.83 @bet365
Main Photo Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
