Badosa surprises Gauff, Zverev also in the semi-final before…

The Spaniard Paula Badosa (12th in the world) offered her first Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday by surprising the world No.3 Coco Gauff at the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev also winning his ticket for the last four before a highly anticipated clash between Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) and Novak Djokovic (7th).

– The surprise Badosa awaits Sabalenka –

Paula Badosa struck a big blow on Tuesday by dominating 7-5, 6-4 Coco Gauff, undefeated since November and winner of the US Open in 2023. Thanks to this first victory of her career against a top 10 Grand Slam player , the Spaniard reaches the last four of a major tournament for the first time.

Ex-2nd in the world before falling in the rankings due to injuries, Badosa could meet Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final. The world No.1 will face the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32nd) at the start of the evening (7 p.m. in Melbourne, 8 a.m. GMT).

“I’m super proud of my level of play. For me, it’s a dream come true,” she said on the Rod Laver Arena court just after her victory.

Coco Gauff said she was “disappointed, but not completely destroyed”.

“I gave everything on the court, I fought until the end,” she continued at a press conference, recognizing that Badosa had been “superior” to her in the key moments of the match.

Like her runner-up Iga Swiatek (2nd), Aryna Sabalenka qualified for the quarter-finals without losing a single set.

On a streak of 18 consecutive victories in Melbourne, she will want to continue her road to a third consecutive title at the Australian Open. The last to have achieved this hat-trick was the Swiss Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.

But if the two players have not faced each other since the third round of Roland-Garros in 2021, Pavlyuchenkova leads 2-1 in her confrontations against the Belarusian.

– Zverev s’en black en quatre sets –

Alexander Zverev (2nd) won his place in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday for the second year in a row and the third time in his career, thanks to a victory in four sets against the American Tommy Paul.

The 11th in the world made life difficult for the German for three sets but was unable to maintain his breaks in advance at key moments of the first two rounds. Zverev also showed himself to be far superior to the American in the tie-breaks, ultimately winning 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/0), 2-6, 6-1 in close quarters. from 3:30 a.m.

Olympic champion in 2021, Zverev won for the first time in his career against Paul, after two defeats in 2020 and 2022.

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (left) chats with Serbian Novak Djokovic (right) during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne, January 7, 2025

William WEST – AFP

“I should have been down two sets to zero, I wasn’t playing very well and he was. I don’t really know how, but I won the first set, the second… and the fourth set was the best that I played” on Tuesday, said the German.

Still in search of his first Grand Slam title at age 27 after two lost finals (US Open 2020, Roland-Garros 2024), Zverev will face Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) or Novak Djokovic (7th) in the semi-final, who will compete in a shock quarter-final on Tuesday evening.

Expected since the draw, the eighth confrontation between the two former world No.1s could allow the 21-year-old Spaniard to continue his march towards the only Grand Slam title missing from his record.

The Serbian, 16 years his senior, is aiming for a 25th title in a major tournament which would make him the only record holder for Grand Slam victories, ahead of Australian legend Margaret Court (24 successes).

In their duels, Djokovic leads four victories to three and has always won on hard court, at the Masters-1000 in Cincinnati and at the ATP Finals in 2023.

This match is also a first, since “Carlitos” and the “Djoker” have never met before at such an early stage of a tournament – they crossed swords three times in the semi-finals and four times in the final.

By Baptiste DEDIEU, Damien GAUDISSART / Melbourne (AFP) / © 2025 AFP