Coco Gauff of the United States reacts during a fourth-round match against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
MELBOURNE, Australia – Coco Gauff’s streak of consecutive units ended at the 2025 Australian Open. Her bid for a second Grand Slam title continued on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 comeback win over Belinda Bencic in the fourth round. .
Gauff, a 20-year-old from Florida who won the 2023 US Open as a teenager, had amassed all 16 units she had played this year and 24 of her last 25 through the end of last season, which included a title in the WTA Finals.
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But the tournament’s No. 3 seed couldn’t control her shots well enough early against Bencic on a humid afternoon at the Rod Laver Area, where the temperature reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) and the blue playing surface was bathed in sunlight. .
READ: Australian Open 2025: Coco Gauff survives to advance to the third round
After a set, Coco Gauff reminds everyone why she should be feared
The American has reached the #AusOpen closing quarters 5-7 6-2 6-1!@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • @CocoGauff • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/ysNQrkfYYx
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2025
Spectators sitting on the sides of the court fanned themselves; Gauff sought relief in the fresh air provided on the players’ benches.
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As problems mounted late in the first set, in which Bencic broke serve in each of Gauff’s final two service games, one of which ended with a pair of double faults, the American continued to miss, committing a whopping 20 unforced errors.
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When his shots landed on the green, too long or too wide, or Bencic’s fell out of reach, Gauff would repeatedly turn toward his coach’s box and open his arms, palms up, as if asking: “ What am I supposed to do?” do?” After some of his nine double faults, Gauff slapped him on the leg.
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But Gauff recalibrated after the hour-plus first set, racking up points in clusters, making repeated returns of serve and doing a much better job of targeting points from the baseline. In short, she was back to her best form and Gauff not only cut her unforced errors in half in the second set, but also built a 17-2 advantage in winners during that span.
In the end, Gauff had full control and gestured to the crowd to make more noise after a reflex volley to earn a point in the final game.
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Part of the problem early on, no doubt, was that Bencic is an excellent striker. Her current ranking, at No. 294, is misleading: the 27-year-old Swiss, who reached a career-high No. 4, didn’t return to action until October after her maternity leave.
Her previous best results came on hard courts, including a run to the US Open semifinals in 2019 and a personal gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. However, she is now 0-3 in matches. fourth round at Melbourne Park. previously losing to International Tennis Hall of Fame member Maria Sharapova in 2016 and eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka two years ago.
READ: Australian Open: Coco Gauff begins her bet with a victory in straight units
Gauff will now face No. 11 Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Badosa defeated Olga Danilovic 6-1, 7-6 (2) to reach the last 16 in Melbourne for the first time.
The winner of Gauff vs. Badosa will face either No. 1 Sabalenka, who is seeking a third consecutive Australian Open title, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 French Open runner-up.
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Sabalenka stretched her winning streak in Melbourne to 18 matches by defeating 14th seed Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-2, and Pavlyuchenkova beat No. 18 Donna Vekic 7-6 (0), 6-0.
Martina Hingis, from 1997 to 1999, was the last woman with three consecutive championships in Australia.
