Coco Gauff's forehand and serve abandoned her in the worst way and at the worst time at the Australian Open on Tuesday, and the No. 3-seeded American was eliminated in the quarterfinals by No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain 7-5, 6-4.
Gauff entered the match at Rod Laver Arena with a 9-0 record in 2025 and on a 13-match winning streak that dated to her title at the WTA Finals in November. Using tweaks to some key strokes to great effect in the hopes of earning a second Grand Slam title at age 20, the 2023 US Open champion had only dropped one set through four matches at Melbourne Park this year.
“She’s full of confidence. But I’m playing well, too,” Badosa said ahead of the contest. “I’m ready to face her.”
Was she ever. And Badosa now heads to her first Grand Slam semifinal at age 27.
“I'm a bit emotional,” said Badosa, who had been 0-2 in major quarterfinals. “I wanted to play my best tennis. I think I did. ... I’m super proud of the level I gave today.”
Gauff finished with 41 unforced errors, a total that included six double-faults — including on the last point of the game that put Badosa ahead 5-2 in the second set — and 28 missed forehands.
Gauff never earned so much as a single break point until after she already trailed by a set and a break in the second.
Badosa reached a career-best ranking of No. 2 in 2022, but then dealt with a serious back injury that had her contemplating ending her tennis career.
“I would never think that, a year after, I would be here,” Badosa said. “I’ve been through a lot. In the past, I was one of the best players in the world.”
She next will go up against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion in Melbourne, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the runner-up at the 2021 French Open. Their quarterfinal was to be played Tuesday night.
That was scheduled to be followed by the day's most-anticipated matchup: Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic, 37, is aiming for an 11th Australian Open trophy and a record 25th Grand Slam singles title overall. Alcaraz seeks to complete a career Grand Slam at age 21 by adding a championship in Australia to the ones he already owns: two from Wimbledon plus one apiece from the US Open and French Open.
