- Women’s No 4 seed wins quarter-final 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2
- US Open champion into last four at Melbourne for first time
Coco Gauff stepped onto Rod Laver Arena for her first Australian Open quarter-final desperately struggling to find her game. As nerves and tension dominated her side of the court, unforced errors caked every aspect of her play. Not only did Gauff quickly fall behind 1-5 in the first set against a tenacious Marta Kostyuk, but even when she recovered and established a lead, she had not properly settled.
It is testament to Gauff’s mental strength and how habitual winning has become that despite her struggles, somehow, she found a way through. After more than three hours in the Melbourne heat, Gauff emerged from a chaotic and messy yet wildly entertaining psychodrama to reach the semi-finals with a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2 win over Kostyuk.