Coco Gauff, the world number three, continued her impressive run at the Australian Open on Sunday, despite losing a set for the first time this season. She battled through the heat in Melbourne, with temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius, to overcome Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
The win sets up a quarter-final clash against Spain's Paula Badosa, who earlier defeated Serbia's Olga Danilovic 6-1, 7-6 (7/2).
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!"I thought, first set, she played great tennis and it was tough for me to be on the offensive," said Gauff, who extended her unbeaten streak to 13 matches going back to last year's WTA Tour Finals. "I just played more aggressively in the second set and then also the third set. But overall, I'm happy with how I played."
The match was evenly contested in the early stages, but Bencic's variety of shots seemed to unsettle the American. Gauff, who had not dropped a set in eight matches this season, faced pressure from Bencic, who converted a second break point in the ninth game.
This stirred a response from the American, who immediately broke back to level the score at 5-5 with a sizzling backhand pass down the line. However, Gauff double-faulted twice, handing Bencic the decisive break and the opening set after 62 minutes.
Gauff struggled with her serve throughout the match, committing nine double faults in total. Despite this, she managed to turn things around in the second set, forcing a decider.
Bencic, the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist, entered the match with a 2-1 win-loss record over Gauff, but their last meeting was in 2023. Shortly after that, Bencic took maternity leave to give birth to her daughter Bella and only returned to tennis at the end of 2024.
Gauff's hard-fought hold after three deuces at the start of the third set set the tone for the remainder of the match, as Bencic began to feel the effects of the heat. The American wore down her opponent and broke for a 3-1 lead before closing out the match in 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Badosa's victory marks her first quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open. She is the first Spanish woman to reach the last-eight at Melbourne Park since Garbine Muguruza achieved the feat in 2020.
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