Paula Badosa Defeats Coco Gauff at Australian Open to Reach Her First-Ever Grand Slam Semifinal

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa has reached her first-ever Grand Slam semifinal…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis player, the tournament’s No. 11 seed, upset No. 3 seed Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Tuesday to advance to the next round.

Gauff’s forehand and serve abandoned her at the worst time at Melbourne Park in the unexpected loss.

Gauff had entered the match at Rod Laver Arena with a 9-0 record in 2025 and was on a 13-match winning streak that dated to her title at the WTA Finals in November.

Using tweaks to some key strokes to great effect in the hopes of earning a second Grand Slam title at age 20, the 2023 US Open champion had dropped only one set through four matches at Melbourne Park this year.

“She’s full of confidence. But I’m playing well, too,” Badosa said ahead of the contest. “I’m ready to face her.”

Was she ever.

Badosa now heads to her first Grand Slam semifinal

Gauff finished with 41 unforced errors, a total that included six double-faults – one of them on the last point of the game that put Badosa ahead 5-2 in the second set – and 28 missed forehands.

She didn’t earn a break point until after she trailed by a set and a break in the second.

Badosa reached a career-best ranking of No. 2 in 2022, but then dealt with a serious back injury that had her contemplating ending her tennis career.

“I would never think that, a year after, I would be here,” Badosa said. “I’ve been through a lot. In the past, I was one of the best players in the world.”

She’ll next face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion in Melbourne, or No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the runner-up at the 2021 French Open. Their quarterfinal was to be played Tuesday night.

Paula Badosa Outlasts Marie Bouzkova to Win Mubadala Citi DC Open

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa is celebrating her first post-injury title…

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis player won the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Sunday for her first victory following a back injury, beating Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in a rain-interrupted match.

Badosa, ranked as high as No. 2 in the world, was sidelined six months last year because of a stress fracture.

“One year ago I was on the couch, so it’s a big difference now,” Badosa said. “Now I’m an athlete again.”

She has four WTA Tour victories, also winning in 2021 at Belgrade and Indian Wells and in January 2022 in Sydney.

“I was really, really nervous because I really wanted it really bad,” Badosa said.

The match was delayed for about 40 minutes early in the first game of the third set.

On Saturday in the semifinals, Bouzkova rallied to beat top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 after a long weather delay in the third set.

Bouzkova was playing her first WTA 500 final. She won her lone career WTA Tour title in 2022 in Prague.

Paula Badosa Rallies to Upset Daria Kasatkina & Reach Third Round at Wimbledon

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa has pulled off a special upset…

The 26-year-old Spanish professional tennis player rallied from a break down in the final set to snap Daria Kasatkina‘s seven-match win streak and advance to the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.

The former World No.2 came back from 4-2 down in the third set to win 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 51 minutes.

“I know it’s not my first time in the second week of a Grand Slam,” Badosa said on court, “but for me it’s a special one because a few months ago I didn’t know if I could play tennis anymore. So to be here is very special.”

Badosa did not hold back tears after the hard-fought win, which put her into Wimbledon’s second week for the third time in her career and first since the debilitating back injury that has plagued her since the start of 2023. It was the same stress fracture that forced her retirement from Wimbledon 12 months ago and shut down the remainder of her season.

Badosa choked back the tears as the crowd gave her a rousing ovation for her efforts.

“One of the reasons I come back on the court is for you guys,” Badosa told the crowd. “Hearing my name and cheering for me, it’s really for you guys. I really feel the love.”

Badosa returned to competition in January but the struggles were evident. In the first four months of the year, she won back-to-back matches just once, exacerbated by three in-match retirements.

“In Indian Wells, the doctors told me it would be very complicated to continue my career,” Badosa said on the WTA Insider Podcast.

“I said, ‘A few more years? I’m still 26.’ For me that was very tough.”

But with the help of cortisone shots and a refusal to let her career whittle away, Badosa quietly built up belief in her body and her tennis once again. Her run to the Round of 16 in Rome, where she beat Mirra Andreeva, Emma Navarro and Diana Shnaider before taking Coco Gauff to a third set, was a huge catalyst. Then came two wins over Katie Boulter and Yulia Putintseva at Roland Garros.

She came into Wimbledon after making her first quarterfinal of the season, on the grass at Bad Homburg. That run put her back in the Top 100 at No.93.

Badosa has played like a woman renewed at SW19. It began with clinical wins over Karolina Muchova and Brenda Fruhvirtova. That set up a true gut-check against Rothesay International champion Kasatkina, who was bidding to extend her win streak to a personal-best eight matches.

After a delayed start due to rain, Badosa raced to a 3-0 lead before Kasatkina slowly and methodically reeled her in. After trailing 5-2, Kasatkina won three consecutive games and saved three set points to keep the set in the balance, but Badosa surged from 5-5 in the tiebreak to take the set.

Kasatkina struck back in the second set with a timely break in the 10th game to take the set and rode that momentum to a 4-2 lead in the decider. But the Eastbourne champion failed to consolidate the break and Badosa was off and running. With more aggressive, disciplined hitting, the Spaniard won the last four games to seal her first Top 20 win in over a year.

“I’ve always been very tough mentally and a fighter, so I was going to do it anyway,” Badosa said. “So for me, I’m very proud that I’ve been through all of this. And now that I’m, again, in the fourth round and playing good level again, because sometimes also when I came back at the beginning of the year and struggling so much, my level wasn’t there. I feel myself so far away. Now seeing myself back at it, it means a lot.”

Rafael Nadal to Play Singles & Doubles at 2024 Paris Games

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is set to play at the 2024 Paris Games.

The 38-year-old Spanish professional tennis player has been named to the Spanish tennis team for the Paris Olympics, where he’ll also partner with French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in doubles, the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation has announced.

Nadal, who has been limited the past two years by a number of injuries, has said the Olympic Games were his focus and that he could skip Wimbledon to prepare.

“My main goal now is to play Olympics,” Nadal said after losing in the first round at Roland Garros on May 27. “That’s going to be here. So I need to prepare myself the proper way to try to arrive here healthy and well prepared, and then let’s see.”

Nadal and Alcaraz will play in both singles and doubles at the Games.

The tennis competition will be held at Roland Garros, where Nadal is a 14-time Grand Slam champion and Alcaraz just won the French Open on Sunday.

“One pair, which I think everyone knows and was hoping for, is Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal and the second pair is yet to be decided. It hasn’t been 100% confirmed yet,” national team coach David Ferrer told reporters.

Alcaraz, who will be making his Olympic debut, has set winning an Olympic medal for Spain as one of his top career goals. He said after winning at Roland Garros that this year he would prefer a gold medal at the Paris Olympics over successfully defending his Wimbledon title.

“The Olympic Games are every four years and it’s a special tournament where you’re not only playing for yourself, but for a country, representing every Spaniard,” the No. 2-ranked Alcaraz said. “I think this year I’d choose Olympic gold.”

Nadal has a singles gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Games and a 2016 gold in doubles, when he played with Marc Lopez.

Spain also selected Pablo Carreno Busta, Alejandro Davidovich and Marcel Granollers (doubles) for the men’s competition. Captain Anabel Medina picked No. 55 Sara Sorribes Tormo and No. 67 Cristina Bucsa — the top-ranked Spanish players — for the women’s team, with Paula Badosa deciding not to compete as she has only two more events to play while using her protected ranking.

Beatriz Haddad Maia & Victoria Azarenka Claim Women’s Doubles Title at Madrid Open

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Beatriz Haddad Maia is celebrating a winning debut…

In their maiden tournament as a team, the 26-year-old Brazilian tennis player and Victoria Azarenka defeated top seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to capture the women’s doubles title at the Mutua Madrid Open.

The victory capped off a stellar week for the unseeded duo, who toppled two of the Top 3 seeds to win their first tournament together.

Madrid is Haddad Maia’s fifth career doubles title and the biggest title of her career. She was previously a two-time runner-up at the WTA 1000 level, including at Indian Wells this spring with Laura Siegemund.

The title is Azarenka’s 10th doubles title and fifth at the WTA 1000 level. It is her biggest win on the doubles court since teaming with Ashleigh Barty to win Rome in 2019.

In their team debut at Madrid, Azarenka and Haddad Maia ousted No.3 seeds and Stuttgart champions Desirae Krawczyk and Demis Schuurs in their opening round and went to defeat Paula Badosa/Bethanie Mattek Sands and Leylah Fernandez/Taylor Townsend en route to the final.

Facing down No.1 seeds Gauff and Pegula, who were bidding to win their third title of the season after Doha and Miami, Azarenka and Haddad Maia raced away in the opening to pocket it 6-1. The American team bounced back to lead 4-2 in the second set but Azarenka and Haddad Maia roared back to win the last four games of the match.

After breaking Pegula’s serve to close level the set at 4-4, the eventual champions closed out the win by dominating play at the net and breaking Gauff’s serve in the final game.

Paula Badosa Overtakes Barbora Krejcikova as WTA’s No. 2 Player in the World

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa is movin’ on up…

The 24-year-old Spanish tennis player has overtaken French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova as the No.2 player in the world.

Badosa has been chasing the World No.2 ranking for weeks, only to come one match short.

But on Friday at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Badosa finally came through after defeating Ons Jabeur to advance to the semifinals. Badosa celebrated the feat by drawing a heart and the number two on the center court clay.

“I was aware [I was close] for weeks, I’m not going to lie,” Badosa told WTA Insider after the win. “In Charleston, I needed one more match: nothing. In Miami, one more match: I had to retire.

“It was a goal and I really wanted to be in that position. For me, it’s a dream come true so I was really going after it. So I’m really happy that today I could do it and I could leave that mental block out of it from the match and I could play pretty well. I think I played a high-level match.”

This time 12 months ago, Badosa was ranked No.62 and just on the verge of her climb up the rankings. Her rise began with a run to the Madrid Open semifinals as a wildcard, her first such run at a WTA 1000 event, and she capitalized on her momentum by winning her first WTA title in Belgrade and first quarterfinal run at a Slam at the French Open.

But Badosa’s ascent to the upper echelons of the game came in the fall when she captured her biggest title in Indian Wells to break into the Top 10 and qualify for the WTA Finals. She finished the season ranked a career-high No.8.

Now came the challenge of backing up her breakout season.

Badosa was open about dealing with the new set of pressure and expectations, but she has handled her newfound status incredibly well. Badosa began the season by proving she wasn’t just a clay-court wonder, winning the title in Sydney. She went on to make the Indian Wells semifinals and Miami quarterfinals last month.

“I was talking with my coach about Iga Swiatek because I remember last year she was suffering a lot with every match,” Badosa said. “I remember seeing her crying on the court.

“But at the beginning of this year I was talking to my coach and I said I totally understand now what she’s feeling. Because at the beginning I didn’t know what was happening. This happens to me now. I wanted to cry in the third set today. There’s so much pressure on you and at the end of the day, you’re all alone on the court. It’s a very mental game. But I’m happy I’m getting through it.”

Badosa has not taken her high-level consistency for granted. That’s been the key to her success.

“A lot of people are maybe used to seeing me winning matches, but it’s not a normal thing,” Badosa said. “Mentally, it’s changed. I feel pressure, I feel expectations, like you have to do a minimum of results to have people feel happy and calm. It’s a big change. And I feel it with my opponents. They play against me, and maybe I’m a little bit more tight and they play loose.

“Now I admire even more my idols because it’s a very tough process. But I think I’m doing it well and I’m trying to focus on myself and what I have to do in that moment and not think about those things. I know that maybe now I’m doing well, but next week I can lose against anyone because the level is very high. The most important is to stay humble and work, have a good relationship like I have with my team and keep going.”

In the semifinals, Badosa los to her recent doubles partner Aryna Sabalenka.

Garbine Muguruza Defeats Paula Badosa to Reach First-Ever WTA Finals Title Match

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special first for Garbine Muguruza…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional tennis player dominated compatriot Paula Badosa in a 6-3, 6-3 victory on Tuesday and will now play for the WTA Finals title for the first time in her career.

The sixth-seeded Muguruza, who lost in the semifinals in 2015, is the first Spaniard to reach the singles final since 1993, when Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was runner-up to Steffi Graff.

“I’m very happy with my performance, it was the best match I played here in Guadalajara,” Muguruza said. “It’s the first time we encountered each other. I’m very proud of Paula, she started the year back in the rankings and made all the way to the top 10.”

Muguruza now has a 13-2 record on Mexican soil, where she won back-to-back titles in Monterrey in 2018 and ’19.

Muguruza awaits the winner of eighth-seeded Anett Kontaveit and fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari, who play the other semifinal match later at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara.

Muguruza started the season-ending tournament with a loss to third-seeded Karolina Pliskova but bounced back with victories over second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova, Kontaveit and Badosa.

“I don’t feel like a favorite, maybe on paper or for the TV, but I don’t feel like it,” she said. “I started here losing and I thought that I could be eliminated, so for me to say that I feel like a favorite for the final is complicated.”

Muguruza reached 41 victories this season, her most in a single campaign since 2017 when she finished with 45.

Muguruza broke the seventh-seeded Badosa in the third game and then held to win the first set in 35 minutes.

In the second set, Muguruza had a break in the second game, saved a couple of break points in the third and never looked back.

Badosa, who turned 24 on Monday, was the youngest player in the semifinals. The Spaniard finished a breakthrough season that saw her crack the top 10 for the first time in her career.

“It was a tough day, I did not feel myself and she played good, all the credits go to her,” said Badosa, who earlier in the tournament said that Muguruza was her inspiration. “I don’t really know what happened today. I’m sad that I could not compete.”

The WTA Finals are being played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.

Paula Badosa Advances to Semifinals at the WTA Finals

Posted on November 14, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa is on to the next round…

The 23-year-old Spanish tennis player has extended her winning streak to eight matches on Saturday with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari to qualify for the semifinals at the WTA Finals.

After edging Sakkari, Badosa had to wait for the result of the late match between Iga Swiatek and top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who prevailed 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, to see if she advanced to the semifinals as the top player in her group.

“It was quite a tough match. I served well. I fought for every point. I knew was going to be a battle against Maria,” said Badosa. “I think I stayed aggressive. I was moving well. When you win these kind of matches you have to do a little bit of everything well.”

The WTA Finals, canceled last year because of the pandemic, are played in a round-robin format with the top two players from each group of four moving on to the semifinals.

The semifinals will be played on Tuesday and the final is set for Wednesday at the Centro Panamericano de Tenis in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, the second-largest city in Mexico.

Badosa, ranked No. 63 a year ago, is having a breakthrough season. She won the first two titles of her career in 2021 (Belgrade and Indian Wells) and is among the six players to have made their top-10 debut this season.

“To be honest, I’m quite new. I was 70, 80 in the world at the beginning of the year. I think I got my first top-10 win maybe four months ago, and I needed experience,” Badosa said. “When I got that experience, all of that things, it went well. I think I’m quite competitive. I think I needed a little bit to adjust myself, to be here and play these kind of matches, to learn.”

Swiatek, Sakkari, Anett Kontaveit and Barbora Krejcikova, all of them playing at this tournament, are the others along with Ons Jabeur, who narrowly missed out on a place in Guadalajara.

“I think it was a very high-level match from both of us. Even though I lost, that gives me a lot of confidence for my last match in the round-robin,” said Sakkari, who remains in contention. “I haven’t seen any combinations or anything. I know that I’ll give myself a better chance if I win the next match. I’m just going to focus on that. Anything else, it’s just irrelevant at the moment.”

Sakkari will play Sabalenka on Monday for the last remaining semifinal berth. Kontaveit has already secured a semifinal place in the other group.

Sabalenka, who won titles in Abu Dhabi and Madrid this season, is the first seed in Mexico because world No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty of Australia decided not to defend her WTA Finals title due to continuing COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions. Barty had to undergo two weeks of quarantine when she returned to her Brisbane home in September after the U.S. Open and did not want to do the same again traveling to Mexico.

The WTA Finals are being played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return in 2022 to Shenzhen, China.

Paula Badosa Upsets Top Seed Aryna Sabalenka in Debut Career Match at WTA Finals

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Paula Badosa is off to a stellar start…

The 23-year-old Spanish professional tennis player, competing in her first-ever WTA Finals, started off slowly but won 10 games in a row to upset top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 on Thursday in their opening match at the WTA Finals.

Sabalenka, the world´s No. 2-ranked player, dominated early in the match to take a 4-2 lead, but Badosa recovered and won four games in a row to win the first set and then controlled the second with three breaks.

“I played pretty good, the conditions here are tough to play, but I played an amazing match. I knew I had to play like this to beat her,” Badosa said.

Sabalenka, who won titles in Abu Dhabi and Madrid this season, is the first seed in Mexico because world No. 1 Ash Barty of Australia decided not to defend her WTA Finals title due to continuing COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions.

Barty had to undergo two weeks of quarantine when she returned to her Brisbane home in September after the US Open and did not want to do the same again traveling to Mexico.

“I am really disappointed of myself and this match, but hopefully I can bring myself back,” Sabalenka said.

Badosa is having a breakthrough season after starting the year ranked 70th. She will next play Maria Sakkari, who used her strong first serve to extend her dominance over former French Open champoin Iga Swiatek with a 6-2, 6-4 win earlier Thursday.

“My life has changed so much and very fast, I have so much more stress now with a lot of eyes on me,” Badosa said. “The ceiling is high for me, I have always dream big, I want to play in this type of tournaments to play against the best and being challenged every day.”

All of the players are having to adjust their game to the nearly 5,000-feet altitude of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city.

The tournament, which was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, features a round-robin group stage before the semifinals.

The WTA Finals are being played in Guadalajara for this year only, with the event scheduled to return to Shenzhen, China, in 2022.

Paula Badosa Edges Past Victoria Azarenka to Win First-Ever WTA 1000 Title at Indian Wells Masters

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a debut for books for Paula Badosa…

The 23-year-old Spanish tennis player outlasted former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) at the BNP Paribas Open, becoming just the third woman to win in her Indian Wells Masters debut and the tournament’s first Spanish champion.

In claiming her first WTA 1000 title, Badosa earned $1.2 million.

Badosa joined Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and Serena Williams in 1999 in winning the title in her first appearance. It was Badosa’s second title of her career, having won in Belgrade earlier this year.

Badosa and Azarenka struggled for more than three hours, trading back-to-back service breaks five times. The last time Azarenka broke for a 5-4 lead in the third, and Badosa broke right back for a 5-all tie.

“We were both going for our shots, really pushing each other to the max,” Azarenka said.

Badosa missed a backhand that allowed Azarenka to hold at 6-all.

Badosa dominated the tiebreaker, racing to a 6-2 lead. Azarenka dumped a forehand into the net to give Badosa match point.

Badosa cracked a forehand winner, then collapsed at the baseline. She lay face down, crying and shaking, before getting up. Azarenka came around the net and hugged the 23-year-old Spaniard.

Azarenka, the two-time major champion and former top-ranked player, was seeking just her second title since 2016. She last won in 2020 at Cincinnati. The 32-year-old from Belarus came up short in her bid to become the first woman to win Indian Wells three times, having taken the title in 2012 and 2016.

Azarenka’s season was interrupted by injuries and she made early exits in the Grand Slam events. Her best result was making the fourth round at the French Open.

“This year has been challenging a bit,” she said, “but finishing on a strong note, not necessarily with the result I wanted but with the progress I wanted to seek, that’s really positive.”

In the first-set tiebreaker, Badosa had leads of 4-0 and 5-3. Azarenka tied it 5-all on Badosa’s netted forehand. Azarenka missed a backhand to give Badosa a set point and the Spaniard cashed in with a backhand winner to take the set.

She beat fifth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round, No. 15 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals and No. 14 Ons Jabeur in the semifinals — all in straight sets — to reach the final.

“The first thing I learned this week is that nothing is impossible,” Badosa said.

Badosa earned $1.2 million, more than her previous prize money for the year of just over $1 million.

She came into the tournament ranked 27th in the world; a year ago, she was 87th. Badosa is projected to rise to a career-best 13th in Monday’s WTA Tour rankings.

The combined ATP and WTA tour event was one of the first major sporting events canceled in March 2020 when the coronavirus took hold in the U.S. It will return to its usual March slot next year.

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