“There’s still a lot to go for me to accomplish my goal, but I can say that I’m proud of myself and happy how I performed,” Gauff said after booking a last-eight showdown against 11th seed Paula Badosa.
“It’s funny because I felt like not too long ago, maybe a couple of years ago, I had a really bad stat line when I lost the first set. I was really bad, so I remember my dad was like ‘you’ve gotta get some fight in you’, so every time I lose the first set I kind of think about that and try to dig even deeper.
“I think just leave it out there on court, honestly. We have a saying on my team just give what you have that day and, you know, sometimes results will go your way, sometimes they don’t. Today I was just trying to put myself in the position that if I left the court I could leave proud of myself.”
In just her sixth event back since her return from the birth of daughter Bella, Bencic played with little to lose.
The Swiss, a fellow former junior prodigy who, like Gauff, burst on to the scene as a teenager, looked to become the first woman in the Open era to down three Grand Slam champions en route to the Australian Open quarterfinals, having already moved past Jelena Ostapenko and Naomi Osaka this tournament.
Just as comfortable standing toe-to-toe, backhand-to-backhand with her 20-year-old opponent early on, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist capitalised on her cleverly disguised directional changes and seized the one-set advantage on her second attempt at serving for it.
Had Switzerland not qualified for the season-opening United Cup in Sydney, Bencic admitted she likely would not have made the trip to Australia given she was yet to return to full fitness.
Swiss
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