Coco Gauff blasts ‘internet coaches’ for the criticisms directed at her following Australian Open exit

World No. 3 Coco Gauff suffered a shocking exit at the Australian Open after a straight-set defeat to World No. 12 Paula Badosa.

Coco Gauff blasts ‘internet coaches’ for the criticisms directed at her following Australian Open exit

Coco Gauff (Image via X)

World No.3 Coco Gauff has reacted to her shocking defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Australian Open to Paula Badosa. On Tuesday (January 21), the Spaniard progressed to the last four of a Grand Slam event for the first time with a 7-5, 6-4 win.

A favorite to win at Melbourne Park, Gauff, en route to the defeat, made 41 unforced errors, including six double faults. She lost to a player who was fighting hard to save her career last year and even took cortisone injections following a career-threatening back stress fracture.

YouTube video

In spite of the defeat, Gauff is unfazed by the criticism that she is receiving from those who have never played tennis in their life but would give opinions on how she should’ve played that would’ve resulted in victory.

FS Video

You just have to realize that most of the internet coaches never coached anyone at my level or never played. 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.

Coco Gauff said at the press conference

Though Gauff is determined not to pay heed to the internet coaches, she doesn’t ‘look at it as all bad’ because some critics ‘do mean well’.

I’m the one out there and I’m the one who makes the decision 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.

Coco Gauff added
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Coco Gauff proud of her performance against Paula Badosa

Following this win, Paula Badosa has improved her head-to-head record over Coco Gauff to 4-3. It was also the 27-year-old’s first win over a Top 10 player in a Major event.

Paula Badosa, Coco Gauff
Paula Badosa, Coco Gauff (Images via X)

With this defeat, the 20-year-old ended her 9-0 winning streak in 2025. Though the 11th seed got the better of the 2023 US Open champion, the latter is still proud of the way she performed.

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.

Coco Gauff said at the press conference
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Badosa’s semifinal opponent will be two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or 2021 French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She has met both players before. Badosa is 2-5 against the World No.1 but has defeated Pavlyuchenkova twice in their two meetings.