Coco Gauff shown the door by Paula Badosa in Australian Open quarter-finals

Coco Gauff crashed out of the Australian Open at the hands of Paula Badosa in a straight-sets, quarter-final defeat on Tuesday (21 January).

Gauff, the No. 3 seed and unbeaten in nine matches this year, was undone by uncharacteristic tennis marked by 41 unforced errors and six doubles fault in a 7-5, 6-4 loss to her Spanish opponent. The two were 3-3 in head-to-heads previously.

Badosa won the first break point of the match at five games apiece on her way to taking the opening set.

The 11th-seeded Badosa - who at one point was considering retirement because of a back injury that derailed her career - did not slow down in the second set.

She broke the American three times to move in front 5-2. Gauff wouldn’t go away, winning the next two games, but Badosa finished her off in the 10th and final game to reach her first career Grand Slam semi-final at the age of 27.

Gauff was bidding for her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 US Open. She had lost just one game in four matches going into Tuesday in the midst of a 13-match win streak dating back to last year's WTA Finals.

“A year ago, I was here with my back that I didn’t know if I had to retire from this sport,” said Badosa, who climbed to as high as No. 2 in the world in 2022. “And now I’m here playing against the best in the world.”

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