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Coco Gauff looked 'lost' in 'shocking' Australian Open quarter-final defeat to Elina Svitolina - 'Tough to watch'

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Elina Svitolina cruised past a "shellshocked" Coco Gauff to seal her spot in the Australian Open semi-finals with a victory rather more routine than many expected. TNT Sports expert Laura Robson found it "so surprising" that Gauff never really seemed to turn up on Rod Laver Arena, losing 6-1 6-2, hitting 26 unforced errors and ultimately taking out her frustrations on her racquet in the tunnel.

Gauff 'was playing so badly' as experts say 'there has to be scar tissue'

Video credit: TNT Sports

TNT Sports expert Laura Robson said Coco Gauff "looked lost" and "shell-shocked" in her surprisingly emphatic defeat to Elina Svitolina in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Svitolina had impressed en route to the final eight, not dropping a set, but was expected to face her toughest test yet against the No. 3 seed and two-time major champion Gauff.

However, the Ukrainian sailed through 6-1 6-2 in just an hour, with Gauff frequently spilling unforced errors and unable to find any sort of competitive edge on Rod Laver Arena.

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Robson, speaking on TNT Sports, was "so surprised" by Gauff's level. "What on earth happened to Coco Gauff?" Robson said.

"It was so surprising to see her come out, usually such a big-match player, so consistent, so mentally tough.

"She looked lost for the majority of that hour. Sometimes you have those days where you feel like you cannot hit a ball in the court, but for it to happen in a Grand Slam quarter-final, in front of 15,000 people, she looked shell-shocked at times."

'She looked shell-shocked' - Expert reaction to Gauff's 'bad day at the office'

Video credit: TNT Sports

Gauff has had well-documented struggles with her forehand and, most notably, her serve. Tim Henman said the manner in which Gauff was being dismantled by Svitolina made for tough viewing.

"We all have bad days at the office," he said "But in the context of being the favourite going into that match, she's a Grand Slam champion, won the French Open, won the US Open, [number] three in the world. That was a shocking performance. There's no two ways about it.

"Svitolina just took advantage. But when you get the top player who can only really kick a first serve in, serving at 125km/h, making so many mistakes from the back of the court, the assets of your game have been completely stripped apart in front of our eyes. That was pretty tough to watch."

Having won the Auckland International ahead of her Australian Open campaign, Svitolina finds herself on a 10-match winning streak since the turn of the year, and also upset another big seed, No. 7 Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round.

Jamie Murray, speaking on TNT Sports' coverage of the Australian Open, said that she reaped the benefits from being aggressive in her approach.

"She picked up where she left off against Andreeva, was up the court, playing closer to the baseline, taking time away from Coco Gauff, she wanted to make her defend in the forehand corner," Murray said.

Watch stunning upset as Svitolina downs Gauff in under an hour to reach semis

Video credit: TNT Sports

"She played a very solid match. By the end, you could see her laughing and joking at the end changes, she was so confident this match was in the bag for her. She knew how much Coco was struggling with her game. Very disappointing performance from Coco."

Gauff's uncharacteristic lack of competitiveness on Melbourne's main show court was highlighted by some damning statistics - misfiring 26 unforced errors while hitting just three winners over the hour.

Tunnel footage showed Gauff taking out her frustrations on her racquet after the match, which Henman suggested was unsurprising following a performance in which the American's usual qualities were completely absent.

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"She was playing so badly, this result hasn't come overnight, we know she's been struggling," Henman said.

"There's so much focus and attention [on Gauff's shortcomings], and I think we all sympathise with Coco because she's such a great competitor.

"She's trying so hard to sort the forehand and serve out but to get through to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam and have a match like this, that must do some damage mentally.

"I think there has to be some scar tissue. You can't just say we'll forget about that and move on. She hit three winners and 26 unforced errors in the match - that's impossible to compete at any level. It was hardly surprising to see her frustrated at the end."

Watch as Gauff smashes her racquet after shock defeat to Svitolina

Video credit: TNT Sports

Gauff's run to the quarter-finals represented her deepest in a Grand Slam since her French Open triumph last year, having crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round and the US Open in the last 16.

The 21-year-old regularly consulted her coaching box during Tuesday's heavy defeat, but Murray suggested technical advice can sometimes be counter-intuitive when on court and in high-pressure matchplay.

"The more you think technically on the court, the more rigid and stiff you can become," Murray said. "The coach [Gavin MacMillan] is a biomechanics expert, that's what he's there to do, technical things.

"When you're out on court in those certain matches and under that sort of pressure, you're better to revert towards feelings than worry about your elbow, wrist, contact points on the ball."

Svitolina will face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, following her straight-sets victory against American 18-year-old Iva Jovic earlier on Tuesday.

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