Yahoo Sports Americans Coco Gauff, Tommy Paul ousted from Australian Open
Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Coco Gauff and Tommy Paul became the latest Americans ousted from the 2025 Australian Open after losing quarterfinal matches Tuesday in Melbourne. Top-ranked Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the semifinals.
No. 12 Paula Badosa of Spain beat Gauff in straight sets at Rod Laver Arena. Gauff, ranked No. 3 in the world, struggled to play clean tennis throughout the 1-hour, 43-minute contest.
"I'm disappointed that I could have done a little better in some areas, but I tried my best with what I had today and that's all I can do," Gauff, who reached the quarterfinals in four of her last six Grand Slam appearances, told reporters.
Gauff held a 31-15 advantage in winners, but converted just 2 of 3 break point chances and totaled 41 unforced errors, compared to 23 from Badosa.
Badosa will now meet Sabalenka, her best friend, in her first career Grand Slam singles semifinal. The winner will compete for the women's title at the first Grand Slam of the season.
"It's going to be a battle inside the court of course, but outside it's super normal," said Badosa, who fired 31 winners and converted 4 of 10 break points in her 7-5, 6-4 win over Gauff.
Sabalenka beat No. 32 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in her quarterfinal. She totaled 29 winners and 27 unforced errors, while converting 6 of 8 break points in the 1-hour, 53-minute match.
Pavlyuchenkova logged 23 winners and 23 unforced errors. She converted 5 of 8 break points.
No. 14 Madison Keys of the United States will face No. 27 Elena Svitolina of Ukraine in the third women's quarterfinal Wednesday in Melbourne. The winner of that match will meet No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland or No. 8 Emma Navarro of the United States in the other semifinal.
On the men's side, No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany eliminated No. 11 Tommy Paul of the United States with a 7-6(1), 7-6(0), 2-6, 6-1 Day 10 triumph.
Paul held edges of 9-7 in aces and 44-27 in winners, but committed 56 unforced errors in the 3-hour, 28-minute match. Zverev totaled just 36 unforced errors. The German converted 4 of 7 break points, compared to the American's 4 of 11 clip.
Zverev will face No. 7 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in a men's singles semifinal. Djokovic defeated No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday in Melbourne, which is 16 hours ahead of EST in the United States.
No. 20 Ben Shelton of the United States will battle No. 55 Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the third men's quarterfinal on Day 11.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy and No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia will meet in the last quarterfinal. The winner will face Shelton or Sonego in the semifinals.
An encore presentation of Day 10 matches will air at 1 p.m. EST Tuesday on ESPN2. Day 11 quarterfinal coverage will stream at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN+ and air at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
Semifinal coverage will air Thursday and Friday on ESPN. The women's and men's finals will air at 3:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, respectively, on the same network.
