Paula Badosa eliminates co-favorite Coco Gauff. The Spaniard surprisingly beats the world number three. Badosa celebrates her biggest career success.
Surprise elimination for the co-favorite: former US Open winner Coco Gauff has to continue waiting for her second Grand Slam title after a bitter defeat. The 20-year-old American lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to Paula Badosa of Spain, who is ranked twelfth in the world. The score was 5:7, 4:6 after 1 hour and 43 minutes of play from Gauff’s point of view.
“I’m obviously disappointed, but not completely down – I still have a lot of work to do,” Gauff said. ‘It wasn’t my best performance, but I left it all out on the court and I can be proud of that.’
Australian Open: Badosa celebrates biggest career success
Badosa (27) showed a strong performance in the intense midday heat of well over 30 degrees and was rewarded with her first ever semi-final appearance in a major. “I am very emotional and very proud to achieve something like this. A dream come true,” said the former world number two in an interview.
Gauff, who had already beaten world number two Iga Swiatek this year, was unable to maintain the strong form she showed in the first week of the tournament and will have to return home.
Badosa could now face title defender Aryna Sabalenka in a high-class semi-final on Thursday. The world number one will play the second quarter-final against Russia’s Anastasija Pavlyuchenkova on Tuesday. The action starts at 9 a.m. CET at the Rod Laver Arena.
