“I think I can win it”

Paula Badosa collapsed and Emma Navarro took advantage of this.

Navarro, the No. 13 seed and former NCAA singles champion from the University of Virginia, overcame a 5-1 deficit in the second set to defeat No. 26 Badosa 6-2, 7-5 to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open.

In the semifinals on Thursday, she will face the number 2 seed and pre-tournament favorite Aryna Sabalenka, who swept the number 7 seed and Olympic gold medalist Qinwin Zheng off the court 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday evening.

“I think deep down I believe (that I can win),” Navarro, who lost in the first round a year ago, told ESPN’s Nick Kyrgios after beating defending champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round.

“Yes, I think I can win it.”

The match against Navarro (1:1) against Sabalenka is 1:1.

“I’m going to challenge either of them,” she told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs on court before Sabalenka’s match. “They’re both strong servers and strong hitters. I think they’re going to be aggressive against me no matter who it is, but yeah, I’ll be ready.”

Navarro, 23, will receive $1 million for reaching the semifinals. The champion will receive $3.6 million and the runner-up will receive $1.8 million.

Navarro, who was born in New York City, is the daughter of billionaire Ben Navarro, who owns the tennis tournaments in Charleston, Cincinnati and Monterey.

“I want to thank my dad, who had a vision when I was really young,” Navarro told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs. “He knew I might have had a little bit of ADHD to sit in the classroom or work 9 to 5, and I think he saw something in me from a young age, so thank you dad for sending me on this journey.”

Badosa led 5-1 and served for the second set at 5-2, but then let up and Navarro managed to break to make it 3-5.

“After I got down to 5-2, I had a little inkling that it could be two sets and I just wanted to stay really tough and hang on and even if I lost the second set, I wanted to set the tone for the third set,” Navarro said. “So I’m really happy with my performance today.

“Crazy, on to the semifinals. US Open, baby.”

Navarro won 12 of the 13 points and brought her serve to 4-5 when Badosa collapsed.

“She completely lost her rhythm on every shot, serve, forehand and backhand, out of the blue,” ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs said live.

Badosa then made two double faults and conceded a break to make it 5:5.

Serving at 5-6 and 30-30, Badosa hit a forehand into the net and gave Navarro the match point.

“I just think I can maybe win this in two sets,” Navarro said.

On match point, Navarro won with a drop shot and then raised her hands in celebration before meeting Badosa at the net.

Navarro won the last six games of the match.

“The nerves cost her the match,” said 18-time major winner Chrissie Evert on air.

Navarro is full of confidence and believes she can beat anyone.

“I’m at a point in my career where I’m not afraid of any result or any tournament,” she said.