Ranked outside 100 a year ago, nearly retired, now knocks Coco Gauff out of Australian Open: The Paula Badosa story

Paula Badosa couldn't quite believe it. Knees on the ground, head down... she took a few seconds to gather her thoughts before making a dash to the net. After heartbreaks in two previous Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, this was one post-match handshake of dreams for the Spaniard. It came after an intense battle of 1 hour and 43 minutes, Badosa knocked World No.3 Coco Gauff out of the Australian Open and entered her maiden Grand Slam semi-finals, becoming only the fourth Spaniard to do so in the women's singles event of a major - the first since Garbine Muguruza at Melbourne in 2020.

"I'm a bit emotional," said Badosa, who will face either two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who play later, for a place in the final.

"I'm a very emotional person. I wanted to play my best game. I think I did it. I'm super proud of the level I gave today."

Badosa, the 11th seed, displayed a performance for the ages to beat Gauff, the US Open champion, in straight games (7-5, 6-4).

Beating Gauff to enter her maiden Grand Slam semis, which was also her first victory against a top-10 player in a Grand Slam, was not the only reason why Badosa was overwhelmed by emotions. It was also because of what she went through in the last 12-13 months or so. She was ranked outside the top 100 a year ago after a stress fracture in her back. The injury was so serious that she even contemplated retiring.

"I mean, a year ago, I was here with my back that I didn't know if I had to retire from this sport, and now I'm here playing against the best in the world," said Badosa.

"I won today. I'm in a semi-final. So I would never think that a year after I would be here."

Third seed Gauff had been unbeaten in nine matches this season but dropped her first set of 2025 before recovering to beat Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic in the last 16.

Badosa 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 — including on the last point of the game that put Badosa ahead 5-2 in the second set — 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 — and one that illustrated Gauff's problems on this afternoon — 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's 12 points in that game, 11 came via mistakes by Gauff, including seven off the American's forehand.

That sort of thing kept happening throughout the 1-hour, 43-minute matchup.

Badosa next will go up against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 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.