The first second round matches of the 2024 Australian Open women’s singles will take place on Wednesday, January 17. The attention of Russian fans will surely be focused on the confrontation between her compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and the representative of Spain Paula Badosa.
The tennis career of the 26-year-old Manhattan native, who was ranked No. 2 in the WTA rankings just 20 months ago, has taken a major turn over the past season. The athlete participated in professional tournaments only in the first half of last year. And then unforeseen circumstances intervened in Paula’s plans. First, Badosa withdrew from Wimbledon 2023 due to a back injury, which the athlete had been trying to overcome for several months. Before the TBS in Great Britain, the Spanish tennis player missed Roland Garros and the entire grass season prior to Wimbledon. It should be noted that several weeks before the start of the competitions, Badosa admitted that doctors did not recommend him to compete in them.
The former second-ranked player in the world in singles decided to try to return to the court at the WTA-1000 tournament in Montreal, but never entered the duel with Beatrice Haddad-Maya. Soon, the Spaniard officially announced the early end of the 2023 season due to injury.
“Hello everyone, I wanted to talk to you about my injury… After many months fighting to return to competition, my season has come to an end. Those who know me know how much I love competing and how difficult this decision was for me. Together with my team we have tried every possible way, but the pain does not allow me to continue. Thank you to those who remain by my side during these difficult times. See you next year, stronger than ever,” Badosa wrote on social media.
paula badosa
Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images
As a result, the 2015 junior French Open winner played her first match after injury only in an exhibition tournament called the World Tennis League at the end of last December. In Abu Dhabi, Paula, 26, played only doubles matches, as well as mixed doubles matches. In mixed doubles, the athlete performed for the first time with her boyfriend, two-time TBS finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The fact that the Greek and the Spanish began dating became known during Roland Garros 2023. The new tennis couple managed to quickly excite the public with their romance. At first everything went well, even too well. And many began to suspect that, in fact, Stefanos and Paula did not have any special feelings for each other; It was a public relations movement in order to promote itself in the media. But, you see, it’s hard to imagine that Badosa left her previous lover, Cuban actor and model Juan Betancourt, for the sake of popularity.
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Paula, known for her spectacular appearance, managed to hold several meetings in the capital of the United Arab Emirates and with her lifelong friend, the winner of the 2023 Australian Open, Arina Sabalenka. The two famous tennis players have always had a warm relationship, even though they have repeatedly crossed paths on the court. The duo of friends has already received the fun name “Sabadosa,” and their joint posts are always a source of discussion among fans.
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After finishing the World Tennis League, Badosa spent time training in pre-season in Dubai and then went to Australia. The debut tournament after the return of the former second racket in the world was the prestigious “500” in Adelaide. Before starting, the tennis player shared her latest emotions.
“I am more excited than ever to start the season. I want to get back to my level as soon as possible. I know it will be difficult at first because I haven’t played in a long time.
This type of injury is almost impossible to control. At first I thought that if I put in a lot of hours on the procedures I would recover faster, but then I realized that I just needed to be patient and let my body recover on its own.
The process was very slow. It was very difficult to accept all this, especially psychologically, because, as I always say, I like to play tennis and compete. And suddenly overnight I had to stop playing and sit on the couch, imagine how boring that was.
It seems to me that now I will value each tournament, each match, each round completed more. “I am very happy to return,” Badosa told Marca.
However, the first omelette went wrong: Paula lost to the qualifier Bernarda Pere in three games. But the Spanish did not despair and she announced that she would play the Australian Open. At the start of Melbourne she turned to Taylor Townsend of the United States. In the matchup with the American, Badosa really showed why she ranks so high in the women’s world rankings. She performed almost flawlessly, hitting 23 winners with only seven unforced errors. Furthermore, Paula served eight times in a row and thus achieved the final victory over her rival by 6: 1, 6: 3.
The 26-year-old Manhattan native commented on her success as follows.
“This is not only my first victory of the season, but also the first victory after six or seven months of recovery from an injury that everyone knows about. That’s why it’s very important for me to come back and win again.
Also, today was a pretty difficult match. Taylor played well, especially last week. He expected a slightly different match. He plays aggressively, you never know what to expect from her. “I am very happy to have played regularly,” Badosa admitted at a press conference. Let’s keep in mind that she is now among the top 100 tennis players on the WTA circuit.
In the second round of the Australian Major, the Spaniard will face the 46th racket in the world, the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who at the start of the TBS defeated the Croatian Donna Vekic 6:4, 6:4. . The girls will face each other for the first time on the court in an official match, but it promises to be really exciting, because both tennis players prefer an offensive style of play.
The 2024 Australian Open will be held from January 14 to 28. Follow all the events of the Melbourne tournament in the “Championship”.
