Paula Badosa. (Pic Credit – X)
The Times of India in Melbourne: At 27-years Paula Badosa is in her first major semi-final, the world No. 11 stood her ground to score against a rampaging Coco Gauff , who had blitzed her way to a 9-0 win-loss record for the season. The Spaniard, serving up a wicked cocktail of bottomless reserve and sparky power play, ripped her fifth forehand winner of the match to punctuate her 7-5, 6-4 win to make the Australian Open last four. Badosa, ranked No.2 in the world three years ago, is tennis’ long story, the five-set tale of nervy twists and turns. “I went with a new team that I really believed in, I had worked with them in 2021, and it went really well. In the quarterfinals against the 27th ranked Russian Anastasia Pavyuchenkova, the two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka, looking for a third successive crown, and fourth major title, scored a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win. The 26-year-old Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 5-2 against Badosa, having won their last five meetings, three of which came last year.
In a last-ditch effort Badosa introduced some changes in her team last May, fitness coach and nutritionist, bringing in Dani de la Serna and David Antona.
She fought off a bad back that appeared to derail her career, coming dangerously close to retirement last April, Badosa told herself she should play out the year at least before taking a final decision. “I thought about stopping when I was taking (pain management) injections, because they told me I could do a maximum of three injections a year and I was already on my second one, it was the fourth month of the year,” Badosa explained. They knew my body,” she said.
“After my home tournament in Madrid it was very tough for me – my back and mentally even. I was thinking that maybe I wouldn’t be back again. “When you have faith in a team, things start working. My back started to respond with the exercises they were telling me, the diet, the supplements I had to take.
