MELBOURNE, Australia — Coco Gauff's modified forehand and serve abandoned her in the worst way and at the worst time at the Australian Open. The unforced errors kept piling up, the double faults and break points were increasing, and they were often followed by palms over the eyes or slaps on the thighs.
Add it all up and Gauff's trip to Melbourne Park, and a 13-game winning streak dating back to the end of last season, ended in the quarter-finals. On a hot afternoon at Rod Laver Arena, the 2023 US Open champion lost 7-5, 6-4 to world No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain.
The 20-year-old Gauff, who has tweaked some key strokes and changed coaching teams after a disappointing title defense in New York in September, will win her second Grand Slam title. I arrived in Australia full of hope.
“That was the most frustrating thing because I feel like I was playing without any solutions (at the U.S. Open). Today, I feel like I was playing with solutions. I know what I have to work on, my serve at the US Open. I've had to work on it. I can't say my serve is where I want it to be, but I've worked on it. It's definitely a big improvement. So I've continued to work on it and play aggressively. I want to continue working on it,” Gauff said.
“So I feel like I'm on the right path, the right path,” she said. “Even though we lost today, I feel like I'm on an upward trajectory.”
The American entered Tuesday with a 9-0 record in 2025. She also won her final four matches last season and won the trophy at the WTA Finals in November.
“There's still a lot of work to do,” Gauff said after losing to Badosa, who was 0-2, in an hour and 43 minutes in the Grand Slam quarterfinals. “Obviously I’m disappointed, but not completely devastated.”
Badosa will be playing in his first Grand Slam semi-final at the age of 27.
“I got a little emotional,” Badosa said. “I wanted to play my best tennis, and I think I did. … I'm very proud of the level I was at today.”
She continued to put pressure on Gauff, but Gauff was only able to show off her skills for a short time. Gauff made 41 unforced errors, including six double faults in the final point of the match that gave Badosa a 5-2 lead in the second set, and 28 forehand errors. It was included.
Gauff had to fight 10 break points and lost 4 of 11 service games. She never got a break point during her return until after she had already led by a set and a break.
One of the key games, and one that highlighted Gauff's issues this afternoon, began the second set. The match lasted 22 points over 12 minutes, with Gauff missing two consecutive forehands before Badosa grabbed her fifth break chance.
Gauff made 11 of Badosa's 12 points in the game, including seven forehand errors.
“Today she performed better in key moments,” Gauff said.
This happened so often that Gauff was upset. After one mistake, she dropped her racket on the blue court.
When Badosa finished her quarterfinal with a forehand winner, she put her hand over her mouth and knelt on the ground. It was a big moment for the tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 2 in 2022 but then suffered a serious back injury and considered ending her tennis career.
“I never thought I would be here a year later,” Badosa said. “I've been through a lot. At one time, I was one of the best players in the world.”
She will next face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, in Melbourne, or world No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a runner-up at the 2021 French Open. . Their quarterfinals were to be played on Tuesday night.
Then came the most anticipated matchup of the day, the men's quarterfinal between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic, 37, is aiming for his 11th Australian Open title and 25th Grand Slam singles title overall. Alcaraz is on track to complete a career Grand Slam at the age of 21 by adding the Australian win to the championships he already owns: two wins at Wimbledon, plus one each at the US Open and the French Open. .
The day's other men's quarterfinal was No. 2 Alexander Zverev versus No. 12 Tommy Paul.
