(Football news) While Sabalenka overwhelmed fellow Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova, the American teenager overcame a plethora of errors to defeat Marta Kostyuk in three sets in the quarterfinals. 

Despite making the match far more difficult than necessary, Gauff, who had won all four of her first-round matches against unseeded opponents, did not drop a set on her way to what appeared to be an easy match against world number 37 Kostyuk in the quarterfinals.

While Kostyuk’s blunders ultimately worked to Gauff’s advantage, as she won 7-6[6] 6-7[3] 6-2 in an intense three-hour match, she only managed 15 winners compared to a startling 51 unforced errors. Gauff also had nine double faults in an off-color effort.

Tuesday’s quarter-final was awash with twist and turns in front of the captivated Rod Laver Arena crowd, who witnessed Gauff come back from 5-2 down to take the opener before she was broken while serving for the match in the second set, but Kostyuk’s resilience bedevilled her in a third-set mauling.

Gauff admitted to producing a ‘C’ grade performance in her last-eight battle, although the US Open champion is keeping her fingers crossed that the “bad match” is now out of her system as she prepares to compete in the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the very first time.

The American is yet to suffer semi-final heartbreak at a major tournament, progressing from her only two semi-final ties at last year’s US Open and the 2022 French Open, but a particularly vengeful foe now stands in her way of back-to-back Grand Slam showpiece appearances.

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