WTA number 12 Badosa has now reached her first Grand Slam semi-final with her win over Gauff, who was the third seed at the Australian Open.

A Gauff versus Iga Swiatek final has now been denied, with the Pole still on track for success in Melbourne.

She takes on Gauff’s compatriot Emma Navarro in the other half of the draw, which also sees another American in Madison Keys meet Elina Svitolina.

American tennis fans angry at streaming-only Coco Gauff Australian Open quarter-final

American tennis fans can be happy that two American women remain at this stage of the Australian Open, but many have been left angry by the lack of home coverage of Gauff’s quarter-final clash.

Tagging ESPN on X, one fan wrote: “Four channels showing the CFP (College Football Playoff) National Championship, but Coco Gauff playing in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open is only available on ESPN plus streaming. Terrible.”

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A second said: “I know the National Championship takes precedent but Coco Gauff’s Australian Open quarter-final being exclusively on a streaming service for American audiences is unfortunate. I pay for it anyway and I’m glad the full crew is doing this but it should be more accessible than this.”

Replying to that statement, one fan said: “Same here! Don’t understand why we need the two ESPNs showing the same thing. And ESPNews. Very disrespectful to the tennis community.”

And a second response to that opinion read: “Amen! I kept looking for it and could not believe the Tennis Channel was showing repeats of The French Open.”

And in response to the above claim, one bemused fan said: “It’s crazy. ESPN is showing the same college game on all three channels. A quarter-final! With an American playing!”

Another disappointed tennis fan wrote: “Oh wow! I watch everything on ESPN+ anyway but didn’t know it was exclusively there. Just a huge miss for the sport.”

And another commented: “I realise the CFP National Championship is on right now and all, but 20-year-old world no. 3 Coco Gauff is playing her quarter-final match at the Aus Open and it gets relegated to ESPN+? Surely there’s gotta be a way to get that match on somewhere other than streaming-only.”

American tennis fans left short over Coco Gauff vs Paula Badosa

It goes without saying that American tennis fans simply should have had better access to a hugely important match for Gauff.

The 20-year-old ultimately didn’t come out on top, but there will have been a long list of fans who have now missed out on her last game at the latest Australian Open.

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She was by no means at her best, with six double faults and 41 unforced errors, but Badosa was also at the very top of her game.

Gauff is, of course, still very young and can be hugely proud of her career achievements so far, which involve the 2023 US Open title and the 2024 WTA Finals title.

Perhaps broadcasters can take fan views into account for the second Grand Slam of the season, with the French Open up next in May.

Chiefs of the current Grand Slam have been praised for circumnavigating broadcasting rights issues, with fans loving the Australian Open animated matches that are being live-streamed on YouTube.

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