Badosa Upsets Gauff with Quarter-Final Victory at Australian Open

Written By Maureen Shileche 

January 21, 2025

Paula Badosa reached her first Grand Slam semi-final by defeating one of the tournament favorites, Coco Gauff, 7-5, 6-4 in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday in Melbourne.

Badosa, who had struggled with a back injury in the past two seasons, broke serve at 5-5 in the first set and went on to serve it out.

Despite hitting 31 winners compared to Badosa’s 15, Gauff was undone by 41 unforced errors, while the Spaniard made just 23.

Gauff’s serve also let her down, as she managed to land only 60% of her first serves and committed six double faults. She struggled to hold her opening game of the second set, which lasted 18 minutes. Badosa took advantage of the struggle, moving ahead to 5-2.

However, Badosa seemed to tighten up and failed to serve out the match at 5-2. She made sure not to repeat the mistake in her next service game, firing two aces, an unreturned serve, and a forehand winner in the final game to seal her spot in the semi-finals.