Badosa stuns Gauff in AO quarters

She ended Gauff's nine-match winning streak


News Desk January 22, 2025
Spain’s Paula Badosa celebrates winning the first set in her quarter-final match against Coco Gauff of the U.S. Photo: REUTERS

print-news

Spain's Paula Badosa stunned error-prone third seed Coco Gauff 7-5 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday to reach the last four at a Grand Slam for the first time.

It was a thoroughly deserved victory for Badosa on a sunbathed Rod Laver Arena as she set up a meeting with double defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

"I'm a bit emotional, as you know, I'm a very emotional person," said the 11th seed, who sank to her knees in disbelief after sealing her spot in the last four with her 15th winner.

"The last Slams, the quarter-finals were very tough, so today I wanted to play my best game. I think I did it … I'm super proud of the level I gave today."

Gauff's bid to reach her fifth Grand Slam semi-final, and second in a row at Melbourne Park, foundered on her fragile serve and no fewer than 28 unforced errors on her forehand.

Badosa showed her intentions early on in a tight first set by attacking the 20-year-old's forehand to grab a couple of break points in the third game.

Gauff saved both but Badosa came back at her in the 11th game, earning a third break point with a backhand volley and converting it with a huge cross-court winner off the forehand.

The American fought hard to get back on serve but two wild shots helped Badosa to a set point and she converted it when the third seed went long with a forehand.

Badosa kept up the pressure in the 14-minute opening game of the second set as Gauff's serve started to creak and the 27-year-old converted her fifth break point to edge ahead.

Former U.S. Open champion Gauff had yet to carve out a single break point and that continued as Badosa held to consolidate her advantage at 2-0.

Gauff had fought back from a set down to win her last two meetings with Badosa and upped her intensity to break back for 2-2.

A fifth double fault of the match let Badosa back into the next game, though, and a couple of forehand winners gave the Spaniard a third break of the contest, while another in game seven blew the lead out to 5-2.

Badosa knew she was on the brink of moving into uncharted waters in her career and Gauff exploited her nerves to break back again but the Spanish number one made no mistake when serving for the match at the second attempt.

"I think I manage the emotions a little bit better, not always, but sometimes," said Badosa.

"This is a dream come true."

'Not completely crushed'

Coco Gauff said she was "disappointed but not completely crushed" after her scintillating start to the year came to an abrupt halt in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Gauff's nine-match winning streak to start 2025 was ended in style by Badosa, who dominated after taking a tight first set.

The 20-year-old American said she was more mature now after playing in her ninth Grand Slam quarter-final and would not be beating herself up about the loss like she might have done earlier in her career.

"The way I played, even though it wasn't my best, I gave it my all on the court, so that's something to be proud of," said Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion.

"Some matches are going to go my way, some are not. Maybe a couple of years ago I would feel a lot more crushed and feel like the world is ending type sadness.

"But now I think it's just disappointment that I could have done a little bit better in some areas."

Gauff said it was a very different feeling to her last Slam defeat, a fourth-round three-setter to Emma Navarro in New York last year.

"I feel like at the US Open I was playing with no solution, so I think that was more the frustrating part," said Gauff, who coughed up six double-faults and 41 unforced errors on Tuesday.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ