Gauff suffers heavy defeat to Svitolina, smashes racquet after match

World No. 3 Coco Gauff suffered one of her most heartbreaking defeats, a 59-minute demolition at the hands of Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

A visibly frustrated Gauff struggled throughout the match, serving five double faults and failing to record a single ace. She made 26 unforced errors and managed just three winners, as the twelfth-seeded Svitolina dominated her 6-1 6-2. After the match, the American’s frustration boiled over when she smashed her racquet in the players’ area.

Gauff did break Svitolina’s serve once early in the first set, but she was unable to hold her own serve at any point. In the second set, she managed to hold serve twice, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the heartbreaking outcome.

Coco Gauff smashed her racquet in the halls after her QF loss to Elina Svitolina. 😬

AO BLOG 👉 https://t.co/R9qTY9xh6y pic.twitter.com/NYh91we5GR

— Herald Sun Sport (@heraldsunsport) January 27, 2026

In the other women’s singles quarterfinal on Tuesday at the Australian Open, two-time champion and last year’s runner-up Aryna Sabalenka dominated teenager Iva Jovic, winning 6-3 6-0. After the match, the world No. 1 made her intentions clear, saying her mentality is “trophy or nothing.”

Sabalenka’s run to the semifinals continues her impressive consistency at major tournaments. She has reached the last four in 14 of the past 17 Grand Slams she has played. The Belarusian has also joined an elite group of players, becoming only the third woman in the past 38 years to reach eight consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals, following Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis.

The top seed will next face Elina Svitolina, against whom she holds a favorable 5-1 head-to-head record.