Coco Gough says she has more work to do after losing at the Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia — Coco Gough’s forehand and serve abandoned her in the worst way and at the worst time at the Australian Open. The unforced errors just kept piling up, and so did the double-faults and break points, often with a palm over his eye or a slap on the thigh.

Add it all up, and Goff’s trip to Melbourne Park – and his 13-match winning streak that dates back to the end of last season – ended in the quarter-finals. Never quite in control on a hot afternoon at Rod Laver Arena, the 2023 US Open champion defeated Spain’s No. 11 Paola Badosa 7-5, 6-4.

After a disappointing end to his title defense in New York in September, with some key stroke changes and a change in his coaching team, the 20-year-old Goff arrives in Australia with hopes of a second Grand Slam title.

“I think (at the US Open) I was playing without a solution, so that was the more frustrating part. Today, I feel like I’m playing with solutions; I know what I have to do. US Open, I need to work on my serve. Not saying my serve is where I want it to be, but I’ve worked on it; Obviously, a big improvement. So I want to continue to work on it, continue to play aggressively,” said Goff.

“So I feel like I’m on the right path, the right path,” he said. “Even though I lost today, I feel like I’m on the way up.”

American entered 2025 with a 9-0 record; She also won her final four matches last season to collect the trophy at the WTA Finals in November.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Gough said after the 1 hour 43 minute Grand Slam quarter-final loss to Badosa. “I’m obviously disappointed, but I’m not completely crushed.”

Badosa is now heading to her first Grand Slam semifinal at the age of 27 — and less than a year later was considering retirement because of a stress fracture in her back that took forever to heal and initially did not respond to cortisone injections.

“I wanted to make one last effort,” said Badosa, “well, here I am. So I’m really proud of what I went through with all my teams and especially how I (fought) mentally.”

In the semifinals, she will play against her close friend, two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne. Sabalenka extended her tournament winning streak to 19 matches with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Novak Djokovic reached his 50th Grand Slam semifinal when he captured a record 25th trophy at a major, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted more than 3 1/2 hours. Djokovic took a medical timeout late in the first set to get tape on his left leg but ended at around 1 p.m. Later said he finally felt better thanks to the tournament doctor giving him medicine.

Djokovic will now face No. 2 Alexander Zverev, a two-time finalist in other majors. Zverev beat No. 12 Tommy Paul 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-1 to reach the last four in Melbourne for the third time since 2020. Paul was one point from taking the first set, then one point from the second set, but couldn’t seal the deal, and Zverev was simply superior in subsequent tiebreakers.

Badosa suffered the injury during training for the tournament in Rome in May 2023, shortly after he began working with coach Paul Toledo. A year later, with months off the tour, there were still problems.

“The reality is that there was no response back. We did not find any solutions. Paula was frustrated,” Toledo said. “I was like: It’s not working. I don’t know what we have to do.”

Relying on a new doctor, fitness trainer and nutritionist, Badosa tried various exercises and supplements and her back improved.

“The puzzle,” he said, “is starting to look better.”

He kept the pressure on Goff, who finished with 41 unforced errors, including six double-faults and 28 missed forehands. Badosa collected 10 break points and won four of Goff’s service games. Goff, meanwhile, didn’t earn so much as a single break point until he was already down a set and a break.

A key game — and one that illustrated Goff’s problems this afternoon — started the second set. It lasted more than a dozen minutes at 22 points and Badosa converted his fifth break chance when Gough missed two consecutive forehands.

11 of Badosa’s 12 points in that game came via Goff errors, including seven errant forehands.

“Today,” Goff said, “he did better in those key moments.”

When Badosa finished the quarterfinals with a forehand winner, he put his hand over his face, then knelt on the ground and bowed his head. It was a big moment for someone who reached a career-best ranking of No. 2 in 2022, but only now believes he has reached his full potential.

“Emotionally, I wanted it so much,” Badosa said. “I will not feel freedom until I win the tournament. I always like this. It’s my personality. That’s my character.”