From the brink of retirement to Australian Open semis, Badosa's fairytale comeback warms hearts

Paula Badosa advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal at the third attempt after beating Coco Gauff at the Australian Open on Tuesday but the Spaniard said that just reaching the final four did not give her license to play with more freedom.

"I'm never going to feel freedom until I win the tournament," said the former world number two after her 7-5 6-4 win over an error-prone third seed Gauff.

"I'm always like this. It's my personality, my character. Today, of course, maybe I had a little bit less expectations, but I still had pressure, because I wanted to win so badly.

"I'll step on the court in the semifinals, I don't care against whom, and I'll want to win so badly. That's part of me. When I'm in the final round, my level rises and I just want to give my 100% there and leave it all on the court."

World number 12 Badosa had fallen out of the top 100 due to a series of injuries, including a chronic back problem that made her consider retirement.

"It was at one point last year that I was pretty close (to retirement) because I wasn't seeing myself at the level," said Badosa, who hired a new fitness coach and nutritionist after Madrid in one last roll of the dice.

The move paid off as her back began to feel better with new exercises and supplements.

"Here I am," added Badosa, who will faces close friend and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the next round.

"I'm really proud of what we went through with my team and how I fought through all that, especially mentally."

Meanwhile, Gauff said she was departing the Grand Slam with clear ideas on what to improve in a welcome contrast to how she felt after her US Open title defence ended last year.

World number three Gauff was far from her aggressive best but said she felt more positive than she did after her fourth-round loss to compatriot Emma Navarro at New York.

"Even though I lost today, I feel like I'm on an upward trajectory," Gauff told reporters.