- Coco Gauff suffers first loss of the year in Australian Open semifinals to Aryna Sabalenka.
- Sabalenka becomes first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 and 2017 to reach back-to-back finals at Australian Open.
- Gauff praises her performance in Melbourne but acknowledges Sabalenka’s superior play and more aggressive style in the match.
Additional Coverage:
American tennis player Coco Gauff suffered her first loss of the year in the semifinals of the Australian Open. She was defeated by reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-4. Sabalenka will now advance to the final where she will face China’s Qinwen Zheng, who defeated Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
Sabalenka’s achievement of reaching back-to-back finals at the Australian Open makes her the first woman to do so since Serena Williams in 2016 and 2017. Throughout the match, Gauff, seeded fourth, impressively responded to Sabalenka’s powerful shots, almost winning the first set after briefly taking the lead. However, she lost a contentious tiebreaker. In the second set, Sabalenka played steadily, capitalizing on Gauff’s mistakes.
In a post-game interview, Sabalenka praised Gauff as a great player and expressed her readiness for the match. This was not the first high-stakes encounter between the two athletes. They previously faced each other in the U.S. Open final last September, where Gauff emerged as the winner.
Despite the loss, Gauff spoke highly of her performance in Melbourne, even stating that it may have been better than her play in New York. She acknowledged that she had opportunities in both sets but acknowledged Sabalenka’s superior performance. Gauff mentioned that she played with a more aggressive style in this match.