“Every week there is a disappointment”, laments Badosa

Madrid (Spain) – Former world number 2, WTA 1000 Indian Wells champion and quadruple finalist at Roland Garros, Spanish Paula Badosa has been going through a real ordeal in her career. Far from her best technical and especially physical phase, the 26-year-old player is currently in 101st place in the rankings and has had poor results for at least a year.

In the current season, Badosa won more than one match in the same competition only at the Australian Open, reaching the third round. In total, she has six wins and eight losses, three of which were due to withdrawal throughout the game. The most recent one was in Stuttgart, due to problems with the adductor in his left thigh. That’s if you count the competitions in which she didn’t even enter the court due to her recurring back injury, as happened in Indian Wells and Abu Dhabi, for example.

With yet another setback in her debuts, the third in 2024, the Spaniard said goodbye earlier than she would have liked to the WTA 1000 in Madrid, a tournament played at home and where she made the semifinals three years ago. Disillusioned with the current moment in her career, she says that these disappointments are costing her a high price.

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“I really like tennis, honestly. I love competing, but I don’t like how I am, or seeing where I am. I have always had very high expectations, since I was young I was seen as having great potential, I experienced great emotions in this sport and I know what it means to be at the top. That’s why seeing myself at the bottom is so painful,” she said at the press conference after her comeback defeat to compatriot Jessica Bouzas, with splits of 2/6, 6/3 and 6/3.

Emotionally shaken and technical level below

Badosa also spoke about how difficult it has been to deal with her emotions and the pressure she puts on herself, something that also ends up compromising her game. “I still expect a lot from myself, that’s why it’s so difficult for me. There are days when it’s even difficult to be at the club. I’m not who I want to be right now. Every week there is a disappointment, today it was due to the level of tennis, but normally it has been due to injuries. It’s difficult to get up every time, I still believe in myself, I think my tennis level is there, but I have to recover a lot emotionally”, she emphasizes.

Regarding Wednesday’s game, the home star admitted great frustration not only with the result, but with his own performance on the court. “It was a complicated match, she played very well and I really didn’t [fui bem]. I’m disappointed, because I really wanted to come here and I expected something more. The problem today is that my tennis level is very low,” she explained.