Coco Gauff studying from Serena Williams as she displays on Australian Open exit

The American teenager, who will flip 20 in March, stated she nonetheless loved her tennis even after a troublesome loss. She’s determined to not dwell on the defeat, as an alternative adopting the mindset of her idol Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion. “Tough match for me. Overall a positive tournament,” Gauff stated.

“I had chances in both sets, but she played better tonight. I think it just came down to a couple of points, and that’s tennis. At this stage in any tournament, but especially a Grand Slam, whether I lost 6-1 6-1, or like I did today, or in a third-set tie-break, I still think it would hurt just as much.”

She added: “I watched these matches growing up and watching Serena (Williams) and watching (Maria) Sharapova lose these matches. When you’re in it, it feels like the end of the world but then when you look at history, they didn’t let one match define their career.

“I’m going to dwell on it however… the solar goes to rise tomorrow. Tomorrow, I do not know, I’m going to attempt to go to the flicks or one thing, be happy with myself.” Despite serving several double faults, the fourth seed had a chance to win the first set of Thursday’s semi-final when leading 6-5.

However, she was broken by the Belarusian player and then lost the tiebreaker. The American star was defeated by a single break of service in the second set, which led Sablenka to her 7-6(2), 6-4 victory and gaining some retribution over her recent defeat to Gauff in the US Open final.

Since stunning everyone as a 15-year-old Wimbledon newbie when she beat seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams in 2019, Gauff has come a long way. She now holds seven champion titles and has been ranked World number 3. The US Open champ turned things around after an early exit from the 2023 Wimbledon Championships and bagged 34 victories in her last 39 matches.

After winning in Washington, Cincinnati, and the US Open, she has now achieved her best result at the Australian Open. Reflecting on her teenage years, Gauff, who came close to winning the French Open in 2022, is proud of her journey so far.

“Overall, this stage of my life, was clearly a profitable time,” she said. “I did wish to win a Slam as a youngster, and I did that. Obviously right this moment I hoped to get quantity two, or at the least give myself an opportunity to get quantity two. It did not occur, however I really feel like I’m there. So hopefully I can go solely upwards from right here.”