Dominant Coco Gauff continues impressive winning streak at Australian Open

Only five players have started a tennis season with nine consecutive wins for three consecutive years and Gauff finds herself on that list.

The 20-year-old started the year with a 5-0 record â- steering the United States to the title â- and has now followed it up with four victories at the season-opening Grand Slam.

Last year she kicked off her campaign with a 10-0 record as she got up and running by successfully defending her Auckland Open trophy as she won five matches in a row, beat Elina Svitolina, in the final and then enjoyed a run to the semi-final of the Australian Open before losing against Aryna Sabalenka.

Back in 2023 she also won the Auckland Open title and then picked up another four wins at the Australian Open before losing against Jelena Ostapenko.

All-time greats Margaret Court, Steffi Graff, Monica Seles and Serena Williams are the only other players to have achieved the feat of winning their first nine matches of a campaign in the Open Era.

Asked about emulating the legends, Gauff replied: "It's pretty crazy to be amongst the same stat line as legends and I'm very grateful.

"We worked hard in the off-season. Obviously, there is a long way to go for me to achieve my goals, but I can say I'm proud of myself and how I perform.

"It's funny because I felt like a couple of years ago I had a really bad flat line where if I lost the first set I'd lose the match, and I remember my Dad was like 'you have to get some fight in you', so every time I remember that and dig deeper."

Gauff, of course, was referring to her match against Bencic as she dropped a set for the first time in 2025, but bounced back strongly to beat the Swiss 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

The American is now just one victory away from taking on two-time defending champion Sabalenka in the semi-final, but she will have to get past Paula Badosa first.

"Obviously when I lost that [first] set, I knew I was playing a bit too passive at moments," Gauff said. "It's tough when you're playing someone who is standing on top of the baseline and ripping. I almost just kind of had to play like her, honestly, just to get out of that.

"I think I just started going for my shots more and being okay with maybe making more unforced errors, and hopefully seeing the reward later on."

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