Australian Open: Badosa beat Coco Gauff to reach semi-final as the American brushes off criticism from 'internet coaches'

Australian Open: Badosa beat Coco Gauff to reach semi-final as the American brushes off criticism from 'internet coaches'

Spain's Paula Badosa, 1st seed, stunned world number three Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-finals in Melbourne, falling to the court in celebration.

Badosa is the first Spanish woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since Garbine Muguruza, also in Melbourne, in 2020.

"I'm a bit emotional," said the 27-year-old Badosa, who will face two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the final.

"I'm a very emotional person. I wanted to play my best game. I think I did it. I'm super proud of the level I gave today."

It caps a remarkable comeback to tennis for the world number 12, who was ranked well outside the top 100 a year ago after a stress fracture in her back.

"I mean, a year ago I was here with my back that I didn't know if I had to retire from this sport," said Badosa, who reached a career-high two in the world in 2022.

Meanwhile, Gauff has reacted to her shock quarter-final loss at the Australian Open and isn't fazed by people thinking she should have gone further in the tournament.

"Paula was playing great - some moments in the first set could have gone my way, could have been a different outcome," she said at her post-match press conference.

"A lot more work to do, I'm disappointed, but I'm not completely crushed.

"I was setting up a lot of the points well and just the last ball [was missing]. There was one at 40-15 I think I missed the net ... there were a lot of errors.

"I have to be aggressive. I feel like that's when I'm playing my best. That's how I won most of the matches so far the last few months is by playing aggressive.

"I'm still disappointed, but I think the way I played, even though it wasn't my best, I gave it my all on the court, so that's something to be proud of."

Gauff already has one grand slam victory to her name at a young age and isn't worried about how critics may judge an under-achieving performance Down Under.

"You just have to realise that most of the internet coaches never coached anyone at my level or never played," she said.

"You'll hear not commentators, but people saying 'she should have made this or he should have made that' ... obviously when you're out there, it's different.

"I'm the one out there and I'm the one who decides at the end of the day. If people want to say things, it is what it is - I take it with a grain of salt.

"Some people do mean well, so I don't look at it as all bad. I'm proud of myself and that's all I can say. I promise that I'm going to continue to try my best to improve and live up to my expectations of myself and whatever everybody else - I can't control that."