By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Paula Badosa stunned Coco Gauff to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final and Alexander Zverev overcame Tommy Paul to book his ninth as the Australian Open awaited the blockbuster Tuesday evening clash between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
It was third time lucky for Spaniard Badosa as she finally got past the quarter-final stage at a major by stunning Gauff 7-5 6-4 to bring a shuddering halt to the third-seeded American’s 13-match winning streak.
Gauff’s compatriot Paul had the better of the first three sets against second seed Zverev but ended up on the wrong side of a 7-6(1) 7-6(0) 2-6 6-1 scoreline on a steaming hot Rod Laver Arena.
Zverev counted his blessings after reaching the last four at Melbourne Park for the third time in five years, but was in no doubt what the tennis world was waiting for.
“No reason to stay here after you’ve just witnessed Zverev v Paul,” the German joked to the crowd as he looked forward to the clash between 10-times champion Djokovic and four-times Grand Slam winner Alcaraz.
“It’s two of the best players that probably ever touched a tennis racket. Novak is the greatest of all time right now, Carlos is going to be one of them.
“It’s a privilege to witness it here in Australia. So please, guys do enjoy it.”
Double defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka will take on Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first match of the evening session to decide who faces Badosa in the last four.
The Spanish 11th seed thoroughly deserved her victory over Gauff but said she would not be truly satisfied unless she landed the title.
“I’m always like this. It’s my personality. It’s my character,” the 27-year-old said.
“I will step on the court in the semi-finals — I don’t care against who — and I will want to win so badly. That’s part of me.”
GAUFF PHILOSOPHICAL
Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, was philosophical in defeat.
“Maybe a couple of years ago I would feel a lot more crushed and feel like the world is ending type sadness,” said the 20-year-old.
“Now I think it’s just disappointed that I could have done a little bit better in some areas.”
Paul will probably spend Tuesday night wondering how he managed to lose in four sets to Zverev after eking out breaks of the German’s serve in the tight first two stanzas only to get run over in the tiebreaks.
The 12th seed probably also benefited when the umpire called a let mid-rally on a deuce point because a bird’s feather fell on the court, a decision that incensed Zverev.
Paul took the third set but was clearly second best as Zverev raced away with the fourth to further entrench his position as the most successful active player at Grand Slams without one of the sport’s four major titles to his name.
“He did what he always does,” said the American.
“He picks up his level at the big moments, and my level unfortunately dropped in the big moments today.
“He obviously dominated the breakers. I made way too many unforced errors, and he locked it down. He did what he does.”
Defeats for Gauff and Paul removed two of the five Americans who made it to the quarter-finals with Emma Navarro, Madison Keys and Ben Shelton all in action on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar, additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, writing by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond)
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