Coco Gauff has seen her 11-match winning streak come to an end after losing in straight sets to Paula Badosa in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Gauff had broken a Monica Seles record after her impressive start to the 2025 season, but hit 41 unforced errors in the defeat to Paula Badosa.
Many including John McEnroe had backed Gauff as an Australian Open favourite, with an expectation of a semi-final with two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.
The 20-year-old had suffered her first scare at the Australian Open after Gauff lost the first set to Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, but was unable to battle back against Badosa.
Gauff had recently admitted to having new-found perspective, which seems to be present after her exit from the Australian Open.
Coco Gauff explains difference between Australian Open and US Open losses
Gauff lost in the fourth round of the US Open last year to Emma Navarro, where she returned as the defending champion.
This led to the split between Gauff and Brad Gilbert, before she hired new coach Matt Daly.
When speaking about her Australian Open exit, Gauff admitted that she was disappointed, but did not feel as ‘crushed’ compared to her US Open loss.
“Yeah, I feel like US Open I was playing with no solution, so I think that was more the frustrating part,” Gauff said in her press conference. “Today I feel like I’m playing with solutions. I know what I need to work on.
“US Open I needed to work on my serve. Not saying that my serve is where I want it to be, but I worked on it. Obviously a big improvement. So I want to continue working on that, continue working on playing aggressive margin.
“Yeah, so I feel like I’m on the road to the right way, right path. I’m not crushed. I think US Open I felt from the start of the year to that point I feel like I had maybe not gone backwards. Yeah, backwards or a little bit stagnant. Even though I lost today, I feel like I’m in an upward trajectory.
“I’m not crushed, but obviously it does feel bad when you feel like you’re playing great tennis for the better start of this year to lose, but it is what it is. We’ll get back to work.”
Where will Coco Gauff play after her Australian Open exit?
Gauff is now looking ahead to upcoming tournaments, after revealing what her schedule and priorities are.
First, the world number three will head home to recuperate after a strong start to the year.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. There’s Doha, Dubai,” said Gauff. “You know, the same thing every year. Try to, I guess, get better.
“I’m going to go home and take a break. I’ve been playing a lot of tennis basically since the end of last year. So, yeah, take like a week off or something like that and then get back to work and get better.
I don’t think Doha and Dubai is a priority. Obviously if I do well, great. Obviously the next thing is French Open, so try to progress for that.”
Tournaments in Doha and Dubai are both WTA 1000 level events, with the former getting underway first on Sunday February 8.
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