The Spanish Paula Badosa surprised the American Coco Gauff, world number three, by defeating her on Tuesday with a score of 7-5, 6-4 and securing a place in the semifinals of the Australian Open. It is the first time that Badosa, 27, has reached the semifinal of a Grand Slam.
“I’m a little excited,” admitted the Spaniard, who will now face the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, current champion, or the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who will face each other later on Tuesday. “I am a very emotional person, I wanted to play my best game and I think I did,” he added after the victory, which buried Gauff’s aspirations to compete for his first title in Australia.
“I am super proud of the level I showed today,” said the world No. 11. The result marks an impressive recovery for the Spanish tennis player, who last year had been left out of the top 100 after suffering a back injury.
“A year ago I was here with my back not knowing if I would have to retire from this sport, and now I am facing the best in the world,” he declared. For her part, Gauff admitted to being “disappointed but not completely devastated” by her elimination.
“The way I played, even though it wasn’t my best, I gave everything on the court, so I can feel proud,” declared the 20-year-old American. She said she feels more mature after playing in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the ninth time in her career.
Badosa started the match aggressively and made Gauff serve under pressure. Gauff was serving in the opening set when the Spaniard managed to break her serve on the third chance she had.
The American failed to reach a break point in the first set and made a series of unforced errors that led to her 5-7 loss. In the second set, Badosa took a 2-0 lead and then 5-2. Gauff managed to compensate for one of her two breaks but not the second, and the Spaniard ended up winning 6-4.
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