Paula Badosa: “I wanted to prove them wrong, my ego has grown”

Always wanting to go fast, with that impatience that characterises her and with the anxiety in her back still hitting her hard, Paula Badosa let her coach know at the beginning of the year that she wanted to make up for lost ground quickly. She was ranked 68th in the world, then fell to 140th and today she is virtually 23rd, thanks to her victory over Taylor Townsend (6-4 and 7-5, in 1h 40m) and, consequently, her access to the third round of the New York Grand Slam.

“In January, I told him: ‘I want to make the comeback of the year.’ And Pol [Toledo] he looked at me like that [gesto extrañado] And he replied: ‘You focus on training every day, on improving, on listening and on being open, and everything else will come. But I want to make the return of the year [comeback of the year en la jerga anglosajona del tenis] Because I want to prove that I’m worth it. Honestly, I want to play against Aryna every week. [Sabalenka, la número dos]against Iga [Swiatek, la uno]against Pegula [la seis]… I want to play with these players and challenge them,” the Catalan explained in the conference room, having previously broken the barrier that she had been unable to overcome in her four previous participations in a tournament that she had “crossed over.” A thorn.

Badosa was born in New York and stresses that part of her life story is here. Her parents worked as models and she grew up in Manhattan until she was six years old, which is why she is upset that she has not yet made a name for herself in the tournament. She now knocks down a wall and the move grants her a date on Friday with the Romanian Elena Gabriela Ruse, and she reaffirms her intention: “I am still here, trying. I hope I am the player who gets that prize.” [del regreso del año]”. Happy summer for the Spaniard, who a couple of months ago was talking to her psychologists about how she could turn around the situation in a part of the season of which she does not have good memories.

“I was like, well, let’s focus on this tour because it’s something you’ve always rejected a lot,” she answers to the question asked by this newspaper. “And that’s why I’m happy, because before flying to the United States it was something I had been working on; I had a few days of training and above all I worked a lot mentally, being more open and not being so closed with the conditions.” [velocidad de las pistas y pelotas] and with everything. I didn’t think I could play well in these fast conditions, so I had to prove it to myself. And that’s something I’m very proud of,” she explains.

Deceptive crossing

Her tennis and her confidence have improved, and she says that her back is respecting her thanks to a demanding daily investment based on hypopressives and another series of exercises that strengthen and protect the lumbar area. Determined to return to the space she lost due to the injury and the discontinuity, she expresses herself with optimism and puffs out her chest, contradicting the evolution of recent times – a rise of more than 100 positions in the rankingsince May—and the results recorded in recent weeks—title in Washington and semi-finals in Cincinnati—have led to the opinions that consider it a dead letter.

“I am very proud of myself and, although it may sound bad, I think my ego has grown,” she says. “In April or May there were people who told me that I was not good enough or that I should retire, that I would not be the same, so I wanted to prove those people wrong. All that they said gave me more strength to be where I am now, to come back,” she continues, while referring to the immediate present when a hypothetical quarterfinal match with Coco Gauff, the last champion, is mentioned. “Hopefully,” she says. “But the next match is tricky, so let’s see how I handle it. I have played many matches that have given me a lot of confidence, but at the same time, that can also harm me at some point.”

There is only one match against Ruse, in 2022, on the concrete of Dubai. “And I have very bad memories. I was very high up, but I didn’t manage it well at all; I played very badly and she did very well,” she says. The Romanian is coming off a victory over the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, winner this year at Wimbledon and a high-level competitor, which forces her to keep her guard up. “Let’s see how I manage the pressure…” concludes Badosa.

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