Paula Badosa has made her maiden Grand Slam semifinal after upsetting Coco Gauff 7-5 6-4 in the Australian Open quarterfinal.
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Early in the match, the 11th-seeded Spaniard missed out on two break points but didn't make the same mistake in the 11th game, when she broke the American for a 6-5 lead before serving out for the opener in the following game.
In the second set, the Spanish star blew an early break but responded with back-to-back breaks to go 5-2 up.
Down by a set and a double break, Gauff managed to get one break back in the eighth game but Badosa didn't panic and closed out the match on her serve in the 10th game.
During the match, the No. 3 seed fired a stunning 41 unforced errors and six double faults- and while she had 31 winners - the number of errors was just too high.
With this win, Badosa also ended the American's 11-match winning streak.
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For a place in the Australian Open final, the Spaniard plays against the winner of the match between Aryna Sabalenka and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Badosa after beating Gauff: She played insane early... I'm proud of my performance
"Today I came in, and I wanted to play my best game, and I think I did it. Coco, at the beginning, she was playing insane tennis, but I'm super proud of the level I gave today," the 27-year-old reflected.
"A year ago, I was here with my back [injury] that I didn't know if I had to retire from this sport, and now I'm here, playing the best in the world. I won today, I'm in the semifinals, and I never would think that a year later, I would be here."
If Sabalenka beats Pavlyuchenkova, Badosa will get to battle against her best friend on the biggest stage.
