LONDON – The dose of strength Paula Badosa needs at Wimbledon comes from the memory of her most frustrating days.
“It gives me strength to think about the most difficult moments, like when in February I couldn’t play and I withdrew from Indian Wells. Those were days when I cried every day, I was very bad,” said the Spaniard.
After beating Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the round of 16, the tears were of the opposite emotion: plagued by serious injuries, Badosa had not been in the second week of a major tournament for two years.
In April, the former world number two revealed that doctors told her it was going to be too complicated to continue her career, so she decided to try cortisone injections and change her schedule. She opted to ease her calendar, suspend gym sessions sometimes or add days off when the pain was too severe.
“I was on the sofa watching tournaments from home, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I’m very strong mentally, so I was going to try anyway. I feel far away from those bad moments,” she explained.
Proud of you @paulabadosa 🫶 pic.twitter.com/0xG05RmpCE
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) July 5, 2024
After the match the cameras captured the hug of her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas, eliminated from the singles and doubles. They will not play mixed doubles, as they tried to do in past Grand Slams, although the Spaniard always ended up pulling out due to physical problems.
“There are moments when there is pain and when you really don’t know what to do and you feel lost. It didn’t matter to me, I remember telling my team that I was going to play even if I was in pain,” she recounted.
In this edition of The Championships, Badosa assured that she does not feel the physical pains that have been tormenting her. She will meet the winner of the match between Donna Vekic and Dayana Yastremska to reach the quarterfinals and become a lifetime member of the Last Eight Club.
