Start time: Noon ET, 9 a.m. PT; TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel

How different two tennis seasons can be before ending in the same place. When Paula Badosa travelled to Indian Wells, California, back in March, she was managing an ongoing lower back problem. Doctors told her managing that injury would make it “very complicated” to continue her career.

In desperation, the doctors and Badosa settled on trying cortisone shots. By Wimbledon four months later, she was crying tears of joy at being back in the last 16 for the first time in three years. She has gone one better than that here in New York.

For Emma Navarro, another season of smooth progress entered a different league when she faced Coco Gauff at Wimbledon in July. Navarro picked at Gauff’s weaknesses, and she knocked Gauff out.

Then, Sunday, she did it again, in the stadium where 12 months ago Gauff cemented her position at the top of American tennis. Navarro will enter the top 10 in the world when this tournament is over, with the potential to rise higher still.

Solidity is the hallmark of her game, but her forehand is as devastating and as beautiful as they come. Badosa has the slightly more explosive power, but if Navarro can redirect the pace of Badosa’s shots effectively, she could well be on the way to a first Grand Slam semifinal.