Australian Open: Paula Badosa knocks out third seed Coco Gauff to advance to semis in Melbourne

Coco Gauff ended her winning streak against Paola Badosa in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

The American third seed emerged as the most in-form player on the tour after winning last season’s WTA Finals and all five of her Fed Cup singles matches, including one against Iga Swiatek. Identity arrived in Melbourne.

She entered the quarterfinals with No. 11 seed Badosa on a 13-game winning streak, but in the end the Spaniard won 7-5 6-4.

Badosa feared she might retire last year because of persistent back problems, but she ended the season in style, reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals and now setting a new high in Melbourne.

“I came in today and I wanted to play my best game and I think I did that,” she said. “Coco, she played like crazy at the beginning, but I’m very proud of the level today.

“A year ago I came here with a back and I didn’t know if I had to retire from the sport and now here I am competing against the best in the world. Today I won and I’m in the semi-finals. Never would I have thought I would be here a year later.”

Both sides held serve to 5-5 in the first set, but Badosa broke serve and led 5-2 in the second set.

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She failed to serve the first time but made no mistake the second time, setting up a clash with top seeds Aryna Sabalenka or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Gauff regretted his 41 unforced errors, but he said calmly after the game: “Paula played great. Maybe some moments in the first set might have gone my way, maybe. There were mixed results in the first set.

“I think it’s just a lot of work to do. I’m obviously disappointed, but I’m not completely broken. I’m looking forward to it. Even though I lost today, I feel like I’m on an upward trajectory.”

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