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September 12, 2024,
They did better than the experts and predictors said they would.
We sometimes wonder if, in the player’s mind, they did better than they themselves expected.
There were three players that really stood out at the 2024 US Open who were spectacular and may have exceeded even their own expectations.
Let’s meet them and revisit their recent glory.
She had a great run holding off Naomi Osaka in the second round, taking the former twice victorious US Open Champion Naomi Osaka in two sets, with only one of them closely contested.
Karolina Muchova arrived at the 2024 US Open and really made a statement.
Karolína Muchová is a Czech professional tennis player who has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8, achieved on September 11, 2023.
Karolina reached the 2023 French Open final, and has won one WTA Tour title at the 2019 Korea Open.
So, for some, perhaps not a household name, Ms. Muchova has already made it to the top of the mountain, or at least close, by reaching the 2023 French Open final.
Going up against Naomi Osaka, who still appears to be on the comeback trail, Karolina was resilient. As reported by usopen.org, “The Czech champ, age 28, is the kind of mature player who knows not to tinker with what’s working.”
Indeed.
Karolina first rose to prominence at the 2018 US Open, defeating the then world No. 12 and two-time major champion Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round.
The following year, Karolina reached her first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon by upsetting world No. 3 Karolína Plíšková. At the 2021 Australian Open, she reached the semifinals by defeating world No. 1 and home favorite, Ashleigh Barty.
That is quite a resume.
At the 2023 French Open, she reached her first major final by defeating world No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka, in a close fought semifinal, finishing runner-up to world No. 1, Iga Świątek in a close three sets final.
She placed her final stamp on her 2024 US Open by defeating highly ranked top players in Jasmine Paolini and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
She performed better than many expected. Though in all fairness, she is becoming very consistent at the Grand Slams by finishing near the top.
Then there is Emma Navarro.
When American Danielle Collins announced her retirement, many felt there would be a huge void in successful American women’s tennis. America’s Emma Navarro has quickly filled that void and she certainly proved that at the 2024 US Open by surging her way to the semi-finals.
Emma Navarro is an American professional tennis player with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 by the WTA, achieved on September 9, 2024, and a doubles ranking of No. 93, achieved this August of 2024.
Danielle Collins is a former NCAA collegiate tennis champion.
So is Emma.
Emma played college tennis at Virginia and won the NCAA Singles Championship in 2021, later becoming the first women’s singles NCAA champion to reach the US Open semifinals. She won her first WTA Tour title at the 2024 Hobart International.
Emma Navarro was rated as the best tennis recruit in the nation and joined the Virginia Cavaliers for the fall of 2020 after having previously committed to Duke.
Drum roll please.
In her freshman year, she went 25–1 in singles and reached the No. 1 ranking in the country.
She avenged her only loss of the season in the final of the 2021 NCAA singles championship, beating defending champion Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami.
Ms. Navarro went 26–2 in singles as a second-year, ending the year ranked No. 2 nationally
She was named the ITA Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award. With her NCAA win, she earned a wild card into the 2021 US Open main draw where she made her Grand Slam tournament debut.
Pretty incredible.
All of this prepared her to roll over her biggest road block in getting to the 2024 US Open semi-finals.
As posted by espn.com, “On Sunday, playing against Emma Navarro in front of a capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Gauff had her hopes of a repeat title dashed in the fourth round.”
We sense, in this 2024 US Open, Emma Navarro did better than most people expected.
One more.
How often have you said the name Diana Shnaider?
If you watched the 2024 US Open, her name was said, spoken of and mentioned a lot. That happens when you battle your way into the Round of 16. When predicting who would make it to the Round of 16, most were probably not thinking of Diana.
Were you?
Let’s meet her.
Diana Shnaider is a Russian professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 17 in singles and No. 54 in doubles, both achieved on September 9, 2024.
She began playing tennis at the age of four. At the age of eight, she began pursuing the sport seriously, training with Coach Samvel Minasyan in Moscow.
In 2022, she moved to the United States and enrolled at North Carolina State University, where she played college tennis for the NC State Wolfpack. Here we go again. Another collegiate standout.
Her proud university shared at gopack.com, “Former Wolfpack women’s tennis star Diana Shnaider added Olympic medalist to her already impressive resume after she claimed silver in the women’s doubles competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.”
Diana’s signature on-court look features a blue polka-dot bandana. She began wearing headscarves as a child to prevent sunburn, preferring them over caps and visors. It does make for a very distinct look.
Diana was distinctly fantastic as she performed far beyond many experts expectations and went from a college star to a major professional star, on a 2024 US Open national stage, in a packed stadium before a global television audience.
Welcome to the big leagues.
In this short life, isn’t it wonderful when your hard work and sacrifices pay off and whatever pathway you are on, whatever major goals you have, you achieve them, surpass them and exceed expectations.
We think so.
If you need inspiration, all you need to do is reflect upon the play of the above female tennis stars at the 2024 US Open.
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OPENING PHOTO Shutterstock-lev-radin-photo-credit-Editorial-use Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2,com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol%C3%ADna_Muchov%C3%A1
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/41088649/coco-gauff-us-open-2024-loss-emma-navarro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Shnaider
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
