Tuesday was a very frustrating day on the court for Coco Gauff. Gauff had five double faults in her quarterfinal loss to Elina Svitolina at the 2026 Australian Open and had an uncharacteristically difficult time serving.
Gauff never faced Svitolina. All five of Gauff’s double faults came in the first set on Tuesday, and she won just one game in the set, losing 6-1. Gauff has shown the ability to bounce back when put in tough situations, but she wasn’t able to do that on Tuesday. Svitolina dispatched Gauff 6-2 and won in straight sets.
The match lasted just 59 minutes, making it the shortest Australian Open women’s singles quarter-final match in six years. With the victory, Svitolina advanced to the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time in her career. She will face No. 1 women’s ranking Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday.
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As for Gauff, she wasn’t too happy with Tuesday’s performance. After the game, Gauff was caught on camera slamming her racket in frustration in the Rod Laver Arena tunnel.
Gauff said she intentionally tried to keep the racket away from the camera, but didn’t think it was necessary to show the moment on air.
The 21-year-old explained her actions after the game, saying she didn’t want to lash out on court in front of the fans and didn’t want to cause a loss to her team.
This loss marks the second consecutive year Gauff has been eliminated in the quarterfinals. She has only made it past the round once, at the Australian Open in 2024, when she reached the semifinals. Gauff lost to Sabalenka that year and has never won the Australian Open.
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Carlos Alcaraz easily wins in the quarterfinals
Compared to Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz had a much easier experience Tuesday. The men’s number one defeated Alex de Minaur in straight sets (7-5, 6-2, 6-1) in the quarter-finals to advance to the semi-finals.
It was a pretty clean match for Alcaraz, who won with five aces.
Alcaraz also had a bit of a buzz moment during the game. At one point, de Minaur was called for a time violation, but Alcaraz stepped in to take responsibility for De Minaur’s serve, saying he was “not ready.” The violation was rescinded after Alcaraz explained the situation.
Despite Alcaraz’s success in the sporting world, the Australian Open proved to be his most elusive major tournament. On Tuesday, Alcaraz advanced to the semifinals for the first time in this competition. This is the only tennis major he has never won.
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If Alcaraz wants to break that streak, he will need to get past Alexander Zverev, whom Alcaraz will face on Thursday.
