Australian Open: Paula Badosa beats third seed Coco Gauff to reach semi-finals as Aryna Sabalenka survives scare

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka survuved a scare to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets, while Coco Gauff's winning run came to an end against Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

Gauff, seeded third, arrived in Melbourne as the most in-form player on tour after winning the WTA Finals to end last season and then all five singles matches at the United Cup, including one against Iga Swiatek.

The American went into her last-eight tie with 11th seed Badosa on a 13-match winning streak but it was the Spaniard who came out on top in a 7-5 6-4 victory.

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Badosa feared she may have to retire last year because of a persistent back problem but ended the season strongly, making the quarter-finals of the US Open, and has now hit a new high in Melbourne.

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

"A year ago I was here with my back and I didn't know if I had to retire from this sport and now I'm here playing against the best in the world. I won today, I'm in the semi-finals. I will never think that a year after I would be here."

Both players held serve until 5-5 in the first set, when Badosa struck before opening up a 5-2 lead in the second set.

She was unable to serve it out at the first time of asking but made no mistake the second time around to set up a clash against top seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka comes through Pavlyuchenkova test

Sabalenka survived dropping her first set in Melbourne since the 2023 final against Elena Rybakina as the two-time reigning champion ultimately came through 6-2 2-6 6-3 against Pavlyuchenkova.

After cruising through the opening set, Sabalenka looked in trouble as her serve was broken five-straight times by her 27th-seeded opponent as she dropped the second set and started the third sluggishly.

Crucially, Sabalenka was also able to break Pavlyuchenkova twice to start the deciding set, edging a tight second game that went to deuce three times, before moving ahead 3-2 as she rattled off eight points in a row.

Sabalenka looked the more assured of the two players from then on and, after claiming the decisive break of serve in the eighth game, served things out to reach the semi-finals in Australia once more.

Gauff knows where she needs to improve

Gauff was left to rue 41 unforced errors in her defeat to Badosa but was philosophical afterwards, saying: "Paula was playing great. Maybe some moments in the first set could have gone my way, could have been a different outcome in the first set.

"I think it's just a lot more work to do. I'm obviously disappointed, but I'm not completely crushed. I'm looking forward to a lot. Even though I lost today, I feel like I'm in an upward trajectory."

Gauff said after her defeat that she was departing the Grand Slam with clear ideas on what to improve in a welcome contrast to how she felt after her US Open title defence ended last year.

World No 3 Gauff was far from her aggressive best but said she felt more positive than she did after her fourth-round loss to compatriot Emma Navarro at New York.

"Even though I lost today, I feel like I'm on an upward trajectory," Gauff told reporters. "I feel like (at the) US Open I was playing with no solutions, so I think that was more the frustrating part. Today, I feel like I'm playing with solutions.

"I know what I need to work on."

Gauff parted company with coach Brad Gilbert after the US Open and hired Matt Daly and began making a few adjustments to her game, including grip changes.

Things did not go according to plan for Gauff against Badosa, with the 20-year-old identifying her serve as something that needed a bit more work after six double faults.

"I needed to work on my serve," Gauff said. "I'm not saying that my serve is where I want it to be, but I worked on it. Obviously a big improvement. I want to continue working on that, continue working on playing aggressive.

"I feel like I was ready from the start of this tournament," she added. "Yeah, with each match I found solutions. Then today I was close to doing that as well. I'm obviously disappointed, but I'm not completely crushed."

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(c) Sky Sports 2025: Australian Open: Paula Badosa beats third seed Coco Gauff to reach semi-finals as Aryna Sabalenka survives scare