Badosa hands Gauff first 2025 loss at Australian Open

Former World No.2 Paula Badosa broke new ground on Tuesday in Melbourne with a 7-5, 6-4 win over World No.3 Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open -- a win that puts the Spaniard into a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in her career. 

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The 27-year-old Badosa, 2024's Comeback Player of the Year following a career-threatening back injury in the prior year, had previously been 0-2 in her career in major quarterfinals before she handed Gauff her first loss of 2025 in 1 hour and 43 minutes inside Rod Laver Arena. After the first 10 games of the match went with serve, Badosa secured the first break of the match at 5-5, and never trailed on the scoreboard from that point on. 

The win also gave Badosa her first-ever Top 10 victory at a Grand Slam tournament.

"Today I came in, and I wanted to play my best game, and I think I did it," Badosa said post-match. "Coco, at the beginning, she was playing insane tennis, but I'm super proud of the level I gave today."

"A year ago, I was here with my back [injury] that I didn't know if I had to retire from this sport, and now I'm here, playing the best in the world. I won today, I'm in the semifinals, and I never would think that a year later, I would be here."

Gauff racked up double Badosa's winner total in the match -- 31 to 15 -- but the World No.3 also recorded 41 unforced errors to the Spaniard's 23. Her serve also wobbled: She landed 60% of her first serves, but double-faulted six times and won just 35% of the points when she was forced to hit a second serve. All of that totaled to 10 break point opportunities for Badosa, who converted four.

Having lost to Gauff twice last season from a set ahead -- on clay in Rome and in the fall in Beijing, in a tournament the American went on to win -- Badosa didn't let that happen for a third straight time. An 18-minute game of Gauff's serve to start the second set put the No.11 seed ahead, and she won three straight games from 2-2 as Gauff's struggles continued.

But after failing to serve out victory at 5-2, Badosa emphatically sealed her place in the final four in with two aces, an unreturned serve, and a forehand winner in the match's final game.

Badosa admitted in her post-match press conference that her 2024 results against Gauff played on her mind as she fought to close out the match.

"The last two times [the two played] she brought her level very high, even better when she was down. So I was quite expecting that from her side, especially in the 5-2, because I didn't do anything wrong. She just played unreal," she said.

"5-2 I was a little bit nervous. But the 5-4 up I tried to stay calm and to focus a little bit on my serve. I know she didn't break me much. Just two times in the match. I'm, like, if you serve well, you're going to have your chances here. Just try to focus on yourself, toss the ball correctly, like do all the techniques, routines we have.

"That's what I did. I stopped thinking a little bit of Coco and the match and the entire atmosphere, and I was with myself."

All four of Badosa's career wins against Gauff have come in straight sets.  

Badosa will now face her good friend, World No.1 and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, for a spot in the final, after Sabalenka defeated No.21 seed and 2021 Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Tuesday's other quarterfinal.