Paula, you will face Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals
Paula BADOSA: I love Coco. I respect her enormously. She's a great competitor. We always have matches lined up. The last one was really hard for me, because I won the first set and then the momentum changed in this semi-final in Beijing. In Rome, it was a bit similar. I remember all our matches very well. I hope I can get my revenge here.
This will be your seventh clash, but the first in a Grand Slam…
PB: It’s a special match. A Grand Slam quarter-final, on a big court, against her. I always loved playing against her. I have so much respect for Coco. I'll be ready for this fight, again.
Gauff – Bencic – Match highlights – Australian Open
Video credit: Eurosport
Are you going to prepare in a particular way, especially mentally?
-PD: No, I'll do as usual. In the round of 16, I'll be honest, I was very nervous when I entered the court. Sometimes you see certain matches as opportunities to be seized. This was the case on Sunday. I'm not going to lie. But I think I managed to handle it well. I will try to approach it like any other match. The difference, of course, is that I'm facing one of the best players in the world. She plays incredible tennis. I don't think she's lost a match yet this year. She has enormous confidence. But I play well too, I'm ready to face it.
What will be essential for you if you want to beat her?
PB: I think we are both aggressive players, with a big serve. For me, it's going to be a tactical match. She moves very well. I'm going to have to be aggressive. Play my game. Try to focus a little more on me than on her. But I'm expecting a big fight. Sometimes, against this type of opponent, it just comes down to D-Day form. I hope it will be me.
You will also play to compete in a first Grand Slam semi-final…
PB: Yes, that would be very important to me. I have also not played a lot of quarter-finals in my life (two, Editor's note, at Roland-Garros in 2021 and during the last US Open). With my team, after the US Open, we said to ourselves that the objective should be to return to the quarter-finals as often as possible, to have the experience of these moments, of these matches, and to know how to manage them. to go further. I will have this opportunity again. It's my dream to be there in the last rounds of the Grand Slam.
