Paula Badosa makes her feelings known after Pam Shriver questions Australian Open scheduling of women’s matches
Paula Badosa responded to comments made by former World No. 3 Pam Shriver regarding the scheduling of women’s matches at the 2025 Australian Open. Shriver had suggested that women’s matches were being deliberately placed in the day sessions, while men’s matches were given priority for the night sessions.
Badosa, who secured a straight-sets victory over Olga Danilovic in the fourth round, winning 6-1 in the first set and making a comeback from 2-5 to take the second set 7-6 in a tiebreaker, was asked about Shriver’s remarks in her post-match press conference. The World No. 12 disagreed with Shriver’s viewpoint, stating:
“We’ve had women’s matches played late every day. I was one of them. Personally, I prefer to play early—I’m a morning person. It’s nice to finish earlier and get a good night’s sleep. Sometimes playing late makes it harder to rest and recover. For me, today’s scheduling worked well, and I believe tomorrow we’ll have more late-night matches. I don’t see a problem with the schedule.”
Badosa’s stance echoed that of Aryna Sabalenka, who also expressed no concerns about the tournament’s scheduling and did not believe there was any bias against women’s matches.
Paula Badosa to face Coco Gauff in the 2025 Australian Open quarterfinals
Paula Badosa has reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time in her career, marking her best performance in her six appearances at the tournament. So far, she has dropped only one set.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff is coming off an impressive comeback victory over Belinda Bencic, defeating the Swiss player 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Gauff dominated the second and third sets with 17 winners in the second set and 10 in the third, while Bencic managed only two combined winners in those sets. Gauff also significantly improved her first-serve win percentage, from 74% in the first set to 80% in the last two, securing control of the match.
Gauff and Badosa will face each other on Tuesday, January 21, in what will be their seventh meeting. Their head-to-head record is evenly split at 3-3, setting the stage for an exciting quarterfinal clash.
