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.
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.
She never earned so much as a single break point until after she already trailed by a set and a break in the second.
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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
