Coco Gauff of the United States reacts after her defeat to Emma Navarro of the United States during the fourth round of the US Open tennis championship, Sunday, September 1 in New York. 2024.

Pamela Smith/AP

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Pamela Smith/AP

NEW YORK — Here’s basically all anyone needs to know about reigning champion Coco Gauff’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Emma Navarro in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday: Gauff made more double faults, 19, than the winners, 14.

It was the latest in a series of early exits in recent weeks, including a third-round exit from the Paris Olympics and first- and second-place finishes in hard-court exhibition tournaments before arriving in New York.

“I feel like there are 70 other players in the draw who would love to have the same summer as me, even though it’s (probably) the least (I’ve) done well at this time of year,” said the third-seeded Gauff, who went 18-1 during the North American hardcourt swing 12 months ago, including a run to her first Grand Slam title. “So many people want to get to the fourth round. So many people want to make it to the Olympics. So many people want to carry the flag. It’s perspective.”

The 20-year-old from Florida fought her way back into the match with a four-game series, scoring 14 of 17 points to win the second set.

“It was a bit of a dip,” said the 13th-seeded Navarro, an American who was 0-2 at the US Open until this year, “but I was able to recover.”

After each of her last two matches in New York, Gauff returned to the practice courts to work on her serve. That didn’t help much on Sunday, when she tied her highest double-fault total ever: 19 in a loss at the 2020 French Open. Against Navarro, Gauff double-faulted three times in four different games. Eleven of the double-faults came in the final set alone.

Gauff attributed her struggles to a mix of issues with her technique — “I often go to the left on my serve, and I’m aware of it, but it’s hard to try not to do it at that moment,” she explained — and also in her head.

“Sometimes it’s more of an emotional, mental thing, because if I went out on the practice court right now, I’d be serving 30 times in a row. I’ve done that before,” Gauff said. “I think it’s just a mental hurdle that I have to get over when the time comes. … But I definitely want to look at other things because I don’t want to lose these types of matches anymore.”

She finished with a total of 60 unforced errors, including 29 with her forehand.

The 23-year-old Navarro, who also knocked out Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon in July, was much more stable on Sunday, although she still made 35 unforced errors.

“It was a bit of a battle of wills for a while. But I’m proud of my effort today,” said Navarro, Gauff’s U.S. teammate at the Paris Games. “I kept going through some tough times.”

The result follows a third-round loss to defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic on Friday, meaning a long drought without anyone winning consecutive titles in New York will continue. The last woman to win at least two in a row was Serena Williams with three from 2012-14; the last man to do so was Roger Federer with five from 2004-08.

Frances Tiafoe knocked out 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin, the player who surprised Djokovic, with a 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 victory on Sunday night. The 20th-seeded player reached his third consecutive US Open quarterfinal and will play ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 as 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams looked on and gave a thumbs-up at the end of the match.

Also in action on Sunday was No. 12 Taylor Fritz, who defeated three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Fritz’s opponent in the quarterfinals is 2020 US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev, who defeated Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

“I’m at the point now where I’m still happy to get to the quarterfinals, but I wouldn’t be happy if it ended here,” said Fritz, who has yet to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. “I’m definitely at the point where I really want more than that.”

The Wimbledon victory over Gauff earned Navarro, the 2021 NCAA champion for the University of Virginia, her first appearance in a major quarterfinal. Her second comes Tuesday in New York against No. 26 Paula Badosa, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Wang Yafan. The other women’s match that day will be between No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka — she was runner-up to Gauff last year and defeated Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday — and either No. 7 Zheng Qinwen or No. 24 Donna Vekic.

The quarterfinals give Navarro another chance to play in front of a big crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She had never hit a ball in the stadium before Sunday — and she felt comfortable anyway.

“I’ve been on big courts before where I’ve felt completely overwhelmed and almost like an out-of-body experience. But today I didn’t feel that way,” Navarro said. “I felt comfortable from the moment I stepped on the court, which I was a little surprised about. I was kind of preparing myself for the worst, just in terms of feeling overwhelmed and nervous.”

He certainly didn’t.

Gauff was the one who couldn’t give his best.

“I expected better, but in the end it happened,” Gauff said, “and I know I can turn it around.”