Badosa Stuns Gauff To Advance To Australian Open Semifinals

Paula Badosa, Coco Gauff, Australian Open
Paula Badosa and Coco Gauff (photo: Tennis Australia/Hamish Blair)

MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 21, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

It’s been five years since a Spanish woman reached the Australian Open semifinals. Move over Garbiñe Muguruza (the 2020 runner-up) and say hello to Paula Badosa.

Making her 20th Grand Slam main draw appearance overall and sixth at the Happy Slam, the 27-year-old former World No. 2 – whose ranking slipped to No. 64 in 2023 while she dealt with a serious back injury that sidelined her the second half of the season but is on the verge of rejoining the Top 10 after winning WTA Comeback Player of the Year in 2024 – shed happy tears of joy Tuesday afternoon.

The No. 11-seeded Badosa took out World No. 3 and third seed Coco Gauff of the United States, 7-5, 6-4, in an hour and 43 minutes on Rod Laver Arena under the Melbourne sunshine. The victory – an emotional one – which the Spaniard achieved with plenty of perseverance, advanced Badosa into her first Grand Slam semifinal. It’s her first win against a Top-10 opponent at a major. It was Gauff’s first loss of the 2025 season after going 9-0.

Asked during her on-court interview to describe her feelings upon achieving the biggest upset of the women’s draw, the World No. 12 Badosa summed it up in one word: “Emotional.”

“I’m a bit emotional. As you know, I’m a very emotional person. Overcoming something like this – the Slam – is very tough.

“Today I came in, and I wanted to play my best game, and I think I did it. Coco, at the beginning, she was playing insane tennis, but I’m super proud of the level I gave today.”

Badosa finished with 15 winners to 23 unforced errors but she converted four of 10 break points against Gauff and outpointed her 78-71. Although she won only 64 percent of her first-serve points, compared to 69 percent for Gauff, Badosa won 63 percent of the points on her second serve to just 35 percent for the 20-year-old American. Gauff finished with 31 winners but committed 41 unforced errors.

“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,” Badosa said. “I won today, I’m in the semifinals, and I never would think that a year later, I would be here.”

Ahead 5-2 in the second set, Badosa served for the match and was broken by Gauff. Soon, she tried again at 5-4 – and made the grade. The Spaniard hit a third-shot forehand winner that zoomed past Gauff. Then, she fell to her knees and began a quiet celebration before getting up and waving to the crowd.

Badosa played aggressive when it mattered and kept her cool. She remained poised throughout. By comparison, Gauff looked like she was just fighting it on the court. She didn’t have any range or feel on her shots. Simply, she just wasn’t making her shots that had contributed toward her four earlier victories in Melbourne as well as her five wins at the United Cup earlier this month.

Now, Badosa is through to the last four, which she has never accomplished at the Grand Slam level. She will face either World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus or No. 27 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia on Thursday. Badosa is 2-5 lifetime against Sabalenka and 2-0 versus Pavlyuchenkova.

Edna Boyd: Newest Australian Tennis Hall of Fame inductee

One of the pioneering champions of women’s tennis, Esna Boyd, will be inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame on Tuesday. A ceremony on Rod Laver Arena prior to the evening session will be attended by three of Boyd’s granddaughters, who have flown from the United Kingdom to honor their famous grandmother.

A bronze bust of Boyd, created by Melbourne sculptor Barbara McLean, will take its place in Garden Square at Melbourne Park along with other luminaries of Australian tennis.

Boyd competed in the first Australasian Women’s Final in 1922. By the end of her career, she had accumulated eight Australian titles – one singles and seven doubles crowns.

She was a member of the first Australian women’s team to tour overseas in 1925 and won multiple Victorian, New South Wales and South Australian titles. Boyd was considered to have been in the world’s Top 10 in 1928.

Known for her bright personality, not to mention her powerful forehand, Boyd was part of a charismatic group of women who were the impetus for the growth of women’s tennis in Australia.

After marrying Scotsman Angus Robertson in 1929, Boyd moved with her husband to Scotland. There, as Esna Robertson, she continued playing tennis in the United Kingdom and competed at Wimbledon as well as winning six Scottish hard-court titles.

“We have always known and cherished her memory and now her fame and achievements have exploded,” Boyd’s granddaughter Vicki Weinand said in a statement. “It is really exciting and a privilege for three members of the family to be part of.”

The Australian Tennis Hall of Fame dates back to 1993 with the induction of Rod Laver and Margaret Court. Lleyton Hewitt is the most recent inductee in 2024.

Around the Australian Open

• Women’s doubles No. 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 quarterfinal victory over unseeded Miyu Kato of Japan and Renata Zarazua of Mexico in an hour and 17 minutes on Margaret Court Arena. Dabrowski and Routliffe combined to hit 24 winners, converted five of seven break points and outpointed their opponents 62-42.

Next, Dabrowski and Routliffe will play No. 3 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who defeated Marta Kostyk of Ukraine and Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, in the semifinal round.

• The Australian Open mixed doubles quarterfinals definitely has an Australian look and feel to it.

Tuesday’s Australian Open results

Wednesday’s Australian Open order of play

By the numbers

• Tuesday’s quarterfinal meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic is the first time they are meeting earlier than the semifinal round of a tournament and it’s their first meeting at a hard court Grand Slam, which is significant because Alcaraz is yet to defeat Djokovic on a hard court.

• Since 2020, Aryna Sabalenka’s 11 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances is the most of any WTA player.

• Spain’s Paula Badosa is the fourth Spanish woman in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal. She joins Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Conchita Martinez and.

“Quotable …”

“I think I have learned that the trophy is so far away. It’s almost as distant as it probably feels when you are a junior trying to play this tournament, to be honest. Obviously, I have the belief and that’s my goal, but I think for me personally the best mindset is to treat it as it being so far away. I played two Grand Slam finals, and it still felt like so far away. The one, first final, I felt close, and I think that’s why I got tight and couldn’t really overcome the nerves. The second final, it felt so far away, so I was able to play free because I felt like I had so much more work to do.”

– World No. 3 and third seed Coco Gauff of the United States, as quoted by the WTA website, prior to her semifinal loss to Paula Badosa.

 

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