Surprise at the Australian Open: world No. 3 Coco Gauff was beaten this Tuesday in the quarter-finals by Spaniard Paula Badosa (12th), who will play her first Grand Slam semi-final.
Winner of theUS Open in 2023, the 20-year-old American was dominated 7-5, 6-4 by her 27-year-old opponent, who will face the world No. 1 in the semi-final Aryna Sabalenkadouble title holder at Melbourneor the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (32ᵉ).
Gauff was undefeated since the beginning of November and a defeat in the group stage of WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia, a tournament she ultimately won.
Before theAustralian Openthe American had aligned five successes in a row with the UNITED STATES to win theUnited Cupa mixed national team competition.
“I am moved”said Badosa on the court. “I wanted to play my best tennis and I think I did it, I’m super proud of my level of play today” (Tuesday, Editor’s note)enjoyed the Spaniard, who had a long back injury. “I have been through a lot of challenges (…) For me, it is a dream that has come true”she added.
-First Spanish woman to reach the final four of a Grand Slam since Garbine Muguruza at theAustralian Open in 2020, Badosa now leads 4-3 in his duels with Gauff. Until now, she had never won against a member of the top 10 in one of the four major tournaments in world tennis.
Ex-world No. 2, his best Grand Slam results so far were two quarter-finals, at Roland-Garros in 2021 andUS Open in 2024.
The match was balanced up to 5 games throughout in the first set. Badosa then broke Gauff (6-5), after missing two first opportunities to take the American’s serve in the third game. The Spaniard then pocketed the set on her serve from her first set point.
In the second act, Badosa led 2-0 then 5-2. Gauff managed to erase one of her two breaks behind, but not the second, her opponent finally winning the set 6-4.
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