Coco Gauff puts Australian Open heartbreak behind her with 3-word message

Coco Gauff has put her 2025 Australian Open quarterfinal loss to Paula Badosa aside to focus back on her game. Gauff recently took to Instagram to share two pictures; the first was of her walking to the court and the second of her warming up at Melbourne Park.

In what appeared to be her way of waving goodbye as Gauff has left Australia, she captioned the pictures:

"Back to work."

Screengrab from Coco Gauff's Instagram @cocogauff

The 20-year-old was in fine form, winning the 2024 China Open and the 2024 WTA Finals. She also defeated Iga Swiatek as part of Team USA to lift the 2025 United Cup this season. Gauff then beat the likes of Leylah Fernandez and Belinda Bencic before Paula Boadosa cut her run short at the Melbourne Major.

Two other Americans remain at the 2025 Australian Open which will conclude on Sunday, January 26. Ben Shelton will clash with Jannik Sinner while Madison Keys will face Iga Swiatek in the semifinals of the year's first Grand Slam.

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Coco Gauff "not crushed" after Australian Open QF loss

Coco Gauff at the 2025 Australian Open. Image: Getty

Coco Gauff made a quarterfinal exit at the 2025 Australian Open with a 5-7, 4-6 loss to Paula Badosa. Badosa is enjoying a stellar run at the Melbourne Major after being sidelined with injuries for most of the 2024 season.

In a post-match press conference, Gauff made an objective assessment of her game, particularly in light of the US Open scheduled in September, the other hardcourt Major of the year.

"US Open I needed to work on my serve," Gauff said. "Not saying that my serve is where I want it to be, but I worked on it. Obviously a big improvement. So I want to continue working on that, continue working on playing aggressive margin," she said [ at 4:34]

The 2023 US Open champion was unfazed by her loss and believed she needed to continue working on her game.

"So I feel like I'm on the road to the right way, right path. I'm not crushed. I think at US Open I felt from the start of the year to that point I had maybe, not gone backwards, but backwards or a little bit stagnant. Even though I lost today, I feel like I'm in an upward trajectory," Gauff added.

She took the result in her stride and looked forward to the season.

"I'm not crushed, but obviously it does feel bad when you feel like you're playing great tennis for the better start of this year to lose, but it is what it is. We'll get back to work," she said.

Gauff is likely to gear up for the Middle East swing with the Qatar Open and Dubai Championships lined up on the WTA tour next month.