The world number three saw her aspirations for a first title at Melbourne Park thwarted by Spain's 11th seed Paula Badosa, who triumphed with a score of 7-5, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.
Badosa ended Gauff's nine-match winning streak to begin 2025 with a commanding performance after securing a closely contested first set.
At 20 years old, Gauff reflected on her growth, noting that this was her ninth appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final, and she emphasized that she would not dwell on the defeat as she might have in the past.
“The way I played, even though it wasn’t my best, I gave it my all on the court, so that’s something to be proud of,” said Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion.
“Some matches are going to go my way, some are not. Maybe a couple of years ago I would feel a lot more crushed and feel like the world is ending type sadness.
“But now I think it’s just disappointment that I could have done a little bit better in some areas.”
Gauff distinguished this experience from her previous Grand Slam defeat, a three-set fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro at the US Open last year.
“I feel like at the US Open I was playing with no solution, so I think that was more the frustrating part,” said Gauff, who coughed up six double-faults and 41 unforced errors on Tuesday.
“Today I feel like I’m playing with solutions. I know what I need to work on. Even though I lost today, I feel like I’m in an upward trajectory.
“Obviously it does feel bad when you feel like you’re playing great tennis for the better part of this year to lose, but it is what it is.
“We’ll get back to work.”