Did Coco Gauff win? Here's what happened in Delray Beach star's Australian Open semifinal

Coco Gauff had a chance to continue her rise to the top of the tennis world and make a second consecutive Grand Slam final.

The 19-year-old from Delray Beach played in the Australian Open semifinals Thursday (the match started at 3:30 a.m. ET) against world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, the tournament's reigning champion. The two also squared off in the 2023 U.S. Open final in September, a match Gauff won in three sets for her first career Grand Slam title.

With the victory last year, Gauff rose up to No. 3 in the WTA rankings and became the highest paid female athlete in the world.

Did Coco Gauff win today?

Sabalenka had the upper hand Thursday, defeating Gauff in straight sets 7-6(2), 6-4 to knock the American out of the Aussie Open.

The 25-year-old from Belarus continued her dominant run through the tournament, as she has yet to drop a set in the tournament. Gauff, on the other hand, struggled in her previous match, hitting 51 unforced errors and nine double-faults in a marathon win over Marta Kostyuk on Tuesday.

Sabalenka came out strong in the semifinal, taking a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Gauff stormed back and came two points from stealing the set. But a pair of unforced errors helped Sabalenka get it to a tiebreaker, which she won easily.

Sabalenka had an easier time in the second set to advance to the final, where she will defend her title against No. 12-seeded Qinwen Zheng.

What did Coco Gauff say about the loss?

"Overall, a positive tournament," Gauff said after the match. "I had chances in both sets, but she played better tonight. I felt like I did my best with the game plan that I had. I think it just came down to a couple of points, and that's tennis."

When is the Australian Open final?

Aryna Sabalenka will face Qinwen Zheng in the Aussie Open championship match at 3:30 a.m. ET Saturday, January 27. The match will air on ESPN and can be streamed with a free trial for new subscribers on fuboTV.

When is Coco Gauff's next match?

Here are the next WTA tournaments after the Australian Open:

• Thailand Open: January 29-February 4

• Upper Austria Ladies Linz: January 29-February 4

• L&T Mumbai Open: February 5-11

• Transylvania Open: February 5-11

• Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open: February 5-11

• Qatar TotalEnergies Open: February 11-17

Last year, Gauff took a few weeks off after the Australian Open before playing in the Qatar TotalEnergies Open.

Nick Pugliese of the Palm Beach Post and correspondent Marc Berman contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Did Coco Gauff win vs Aryna Sabalenka in Australian Open 2024 match?