MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� forehand and serve abandoned her in the worst way and at the worst time at the on Tuesday, and the No. 3-seeded American was eliminated in the quarterfinals by No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain 7-5, 6-4.
Gauff entered the match at Rod Laver Arena with a 9-0 record in 2025 and on a 13-match winning streak that dated to in November. Using tweaks to some key strokes to great effect in the hopes of earning a second Grand Slam title at age 20, the 2023 U.S. Open champion had only dropped one set through four matches at Melbourne Park this year.
鈥淪he鈥檚 full of confidence. But I鈥檓 playing well, too,鈥� Badosa said ahead of the contest. 鈥淚鈥檓 ready to face her.鈥�
Was she ever. And Badosa now heads to her first Grand Slam semifinal at age 27.
鈥淚'm a bit emotional,鈥� said Badosa, who had been 0-2 in major quarterfinals. 鈥淚 wanted to play my best tennis. I think I did. 鈥� I鈥檓 super proud of the level I gave today.鈥�
She kept the pressure on Gauff, who only briefly managed to showcase her skills. Gauff finished with 41 unforced errors, a total that included six double-faults 鈥� including on the last point of the game that put Badosa ahead 5-2 in the second set 鈥� and 28 missed forehands.
Gauff had to contend with 10 break points and lost four of her 11 service games. She never earned so much as a single break point while returning until after she already trailed by a set and a break in the second.
One key game 鈥� and one that illustrated Gauff鈥檚 problems on this afternoon 鈥� was the second of the second set. It lasted 22 points spread over more than a dozen minutes, and Badosa converted her fifth break chance after Gauff missed two forehands in a row.
Of Badosa鈥檚 12 points in that game, 11 came via mistakes by Gauff, including seven off the American鈥檚 forehand.
That sort of thing kept happening throughout the 1-hour, 43-minute matchup, and Gauff often would respond to a miss off her racket by covering her face with her palm or slapping one of her legs. After one error, she dropped her racket to the blue court.
When the quarterfinal ended with a forehand winner, Badosa placed her hand over her mouth, then knelt on the ground. This was a big moment for someone who reached a career-best ranking of No. 2 in 2022, but then dealt with a serious back injury that made her contemplate ending her tennis career.
鈥淚 would never think that, a year after, I would be here,鈥� Badosa said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been through a lot. In the past, I was one of the best players in the world.鈥�
She next will go up against No. 1 , the two-time defending champion in Melbourne, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the runner-up at the 2021 French Open. Their quarterfinal was to be played Tuesday night.
That was scheduled to be followed by the day's most-anticipated matchup: in the men's quarterfinals.
, 37, is aiming for an 11th Australian Open trophy and a record 25th Grand Slam singles title overall. seeks to complete a career Grand Slam at age 21 by adding a championship in Australia to the ones he already owns: two from Wimbledon plus one apiece from the U.S. Open and French Open.
The day's other men's quarterfinal was No. 2 Alexander Zverev against No. 12 Tommy Paul.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP鈥檚 tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: . More AP tennis:
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
