Paula Badosa could not fairly consider it. Knees on the bottom, head down… she took a couple of seconds to assemble her ideas earlier than making a touch to the web. After heartbreaks in two earlier Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, this was one post-match handshake of desires for the Spaniard. It got here after an intense battle of 1 hour and 43 minutes, Badosa knocked World No.3 Coco Gauff out of the Australian Open and entered her maiden Grand Slam semi-finals, changing into solely the fourth Spaniard to take action within the ladies’s singles occasion of a significant – the primary since Garbine Muguruza at Melbourne in 2020.
Paula Badosa of Spain celebrates after defeating Coco Gauff of the U.S. throughout their quarterfinal match on the Australian Open(AP)
“I’m a bit emotional,” mentioned Badosa, who will face both two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who play later, for a spot within the last.
“I’m a very emotional person. I wanted to play my best game. I think I did it. I’m super proud of the level I gave today.”
Badosa, the eleventh seed, displayed a efficiency for the ages to beat Gauff, the US Open champion, in straight video games (7-5, 6-4).
Beating Gauff to enter her maiden Grand Slam semis, which was additionally her first victory towards a top-10 participant in a Grand Slam, was not the one cause why Badosa was overwhelmed by feelings. It was additionally due to what she went via within the final 12-13 months or so. She was ranked exterior the highest 100 a yr in the past after a stress fracture in her again. The damage was so severe that she even contemplated retiring.
“I mean, a year ago, I was here with my back that I didn’t know if I had to retire from this sport, and now I’m here playing against the best in the world,” mentioned Badosa.
“I won today. I’m in a semi-final. So I would never think that a year after I would be here.”
Third seed Gauff had been unbeaten in 9 matches this season however dropped her first set of 2025 earlier than recovering to beat Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic within the final 16.
Badosa stored the strain on Gauff, who solely briefly managed to showcase her expertise. Gauff completed with 41 unforced errors, a complete that included six double-faults — together with on the final level of the sport that put Badosa forward 5-2 within the second set — and 28 missed forehands.
Gauff needed to cope with 10 break factors and misplaced 4 of her 11 service video games. She by no means earned a lot as a single break level whereas returning till after she already trailed by a set and a break within the second.
One key sport — and one which illustrated Gauff’s issues on this afternoon — was the second of the second set. It lasted 22 factors unfold over greater than a dozen minutes, and Badosa transformed her fifth break likelihood after Gauff missed two forehands in a row.
Of Badosa’s 12 factors in that sport, 11 got here by way of errors by Gauff, together with seven off the American’s forehand.
That type of factor stored taking place all through the 1-hour, 43-minute matchup.
Badosa subsequent will go up towards No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion in Melbourne, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the runner-up on the 2021 French Open. Their quarterfinal was to be performed Tuesday evening.