Coco Gauff’s bid for a third Grand Slam title went up in smoke at the Australian Open quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-2 defeat by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina on Tuesday, after the third seed enduring a nightmare on serve.
The result meant 12th seed Svitolina marched into the semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the first time in her career after three previous quarter-final finishes, keeping alive the 31-year-old’s hopes of a maiden major title.
Gauff’s service woes came to the fore early in the contest as she made five double faults and was broken four times to let the aggressive Svitolina take full advantage and grab the opening set in double quick time.
Desperate to arrest her slide, the American sent a bunch of rackets to be re-strung for cooler conditions under the roof on Rod Laver Arena after organisers earlier invoked their extreme heat policy on a scorching afternoon.
Svitolina raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set before Gauff was able to get on board with a couple of holds, but there was no stopping the Ukrainian, who eased to victory and booked a clash with top seed Aryna Sabalenka.
