Coco Gauff admits what she did wrong in her Australian Open quarter-final defeat to Paula Badosa

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Coco Gauff assessed her game and where she fell short against Paula Badosa at the Australian Open.

The Spaniard produced a fine performance to stun the World number three to win their quarter-final match at Melbourne Park.

Badosa registered a 7-5, 6-4 victory in one hour and 43 minutes and edged ahead 4-3 in their head-to-head rivalry.

This ensured that the 11th seed reached her first Grand Slam final, while Coco Gauff’s wait for another Grand Slam title continues.

What does Coco Gauff say she needs to improve after Australian Open defeat?

Gauff entered the Australian Open quarter-finals with an unbeaten record to start 2025.

But that run came to an end following her shock defeat to Paula Badosa, who produced a tidy display with just 15 winners and 23 unforced errors.

While Gauff recorded 31 winners, more than double her opponent’s, she hit 41 unforced errors, which contributed massively to her defeat.

Furthermore, Gauff won just 35% of the points behind her second serve as Badosa converted four of her 10 break points.

Discussing what went wrong and also needs improvement Gauff told reporters: “I feel like I was making a lot, especially in the net.

“Yeah, I think the timing was a little bit off. I think I was hitting some balls too far in front almost, maybe playing a little bit too far back. I mean, that’s it.

“I felt like I was setting up a lot of the points, you know, well and just the last ball, I mean, there was one at 40-15 I think I missed the net. Yeah, there was a lot of errors on that side.

“I have to be aggressive. I feel like that’s when I’m playing my best. That’s how I won most of the matches so far the last few months is by playing aggressive.

“I think it’s just being more comfortable with that. I’m making a shift in my game. I haven’t always played that aggressive, so I have to expect early on. I do have faith that it will be more of an instinct instead of, like, a second guess.”

Paula Badosa makes retirement admission after beating Coco Gauff at the Australian Open

Badosa dropped to her knees with delight after reaching her first Grand Slam semi-final.

It was also her first career win over a Top 10 opponent at a major and she will face World number one Aryna Sabalenka in the last four.

She also became just the fourth Spanish woman in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, and she is grateful given the dark place she was in back in 2024 due to injury concerns.

“A few months ago I didn’t know if I could play tennis anymore. It was at one point last year that I was pretty close to retiring because I wasn’t seeing myself at the level.

“The back wasn’t responding well. I didn’t find any solutions. But I wanted to keep it a last try, a last chance to finish the year and let’s see how it would go.

“Well, here I am. So I’m really proud of what we went through with all my team and especially how I fought through all that, especially mentally.”