Paula Badosa reaches grand slam semifinal for the first time

Paula Badosa (Peter Menzel, Wikimedia Commons)

Paula Badosa of Barcelona, Spain, the world number 11, is a grand slam semifinalist for the first time. On Tuesday in women’s quarterfinal action, Badosa delivered one of the most significant victories of her tennis career, as she defeated Coco Gauff of the United States, 7-5, 6-4.

A key statistic in the match was double faults. Badodsa only had two, while Gauff had six. Badosa also broke Gauff four times in 10 opportunities.

Gauff was the second seeded player Badosa beat at the 2025 Australian Open. The first was Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, the 17th seed, who Badosa beat 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round.

Badosa had been to two grand slam quarterfinals in the past. At the 2021 French Open, she lost to Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia, 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 in the quarterfinals. Then at the 2024 United States Open, Badosa lost to Emma Navarro of the United States, 6-2, 7-5. Navarro is still in the Australian Open quarterfinals. On Wednesday, she will face world number two Iga Swiatek of Poland.

Next up in the semifinals for Badosa is the world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Sabalenka has won the last two Australian Opens. Sabalenka has won five of seven meetings head-to-head against Badosa. Sabalenka lost the first two meetings and won the last five. Badosda won 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 in the second round of the 2021 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and then 6-4, 6-0 at the 2021 WTA Finals in Guadalajara. Sabalenka then won 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals of Stuttgart in 2022, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of Stuttgart in 2023, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of Miami in 2024, the second round in Stuttgart in 2024 when Badosa withdrew, and then the third round of the 2024 French Open, which Sabalenka won 7-5, 6-1.