Badosa: "You can't expect every player to be a legend"

Mónica Barberán Munera | 24 Jul 2024 | 09.20

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Since her participation in Wimbledon, Paula Badosa has been taking a few days off as she will not compete in the Olympic Games. The Spanish player decided not to use her protected ranking to participate in Paris 2024, saving the opportunity to compete in other tournaments that offer ranking points and to take care of her back due to the challenging surface changes. Thus, she is taking the time to reflect on her career, what she has learned during this tough time dealing with a chronic back injury, and the challenges and prospects in the world of tennis.

Paula has been through a lot lately. In fact, she was uncertain if her career would have to end sooner than expected. However, Badosa has shown to be someone who looks forward and overcomes obstacles. “I have learned to have a lot of patience and to accept things that I cannot control, like an injury of this caliber. The most important lesson has been to be strong, to push myself every day, and to accept being okay with what I cannot control, which is a lot in this sport. Something that also helps me in life. What keeps me fighting every day is the passion for what I do. However, even though I don't feel old, understand me, there is a part of me that is exhausted from overcoming one obstacle after another on the path," she revealed in an extensive interview for Elle.

The injury she copes with has forced her to face reality and understand that there are more important things in life than striving for perfection. Moreover, Badosa believes that success doesn't exist without experiencing defeat: “When they ask me how I would define myself, I say 'brave'. If you don't learn to lose, it is difficult to win. Although it annoys me, it is where I emphasize the most and you must have your mind trained for that moment. The great champions have lost many times. I know that from failure, positive things can be extracted, and that each match is a new opportunity; however, it is one of the things that has been hardest for me to understand. I try to do the best I can, and there are days when it goes well and others when it doesn't, like any person in their job."

In that context, mental health to handle all that pressure is as important as physical health. Paula emphasizes this aspect as she considers herself quite emotional and, like any elite athlete, needs to organize her thoughts: "We go to the gym to train the body, but why can't we go to a psychologist to train the mind? This needs to be normalized, and we need to see that an athlete is just another human being: they have fears, nerves, suffer, the body fails, emotions too, they get tired... We are not robots. We need to stop, reflect, breathe, and recharge."

High Expectations, a Handicap

On another note, Paula reflected on other interesting topics such as media pressure and expectations imposed on some players Is there too much rush to glorify and, consequently, not do them any favors? “Absolutely, but I believe this is already part of the media themselves, who like to perhaps prematurely mention names and create high expectations about people. Unlike other jobs, in tennis you have to mature while you're still young. You need to grow up very quickly, and your mind doesn't keep up. Pressure plays a significant role in that journey and can be detrimental to your future. It needs to be normalized that athletes fail, make mistakes, and have bad moments. You cannot expect every player to be a legend."

Thus, despite her circumstances, the Spanish player has realized that setting goals is good, visualizing the end is important, but not forgetting to enjoy the journey, which is equally significant. “I have suffered a lot from expectations and pressures. I have been very hard on myself. I needed to learn to enjoy because before I only saw the peak, the peak, and the peak, achieving that goal, and to get there, you need to do the journey well. That has been my great improvement, in addition to the hard work I am doing every day,” she confessed.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Badosa: "No puedes exigir que cada jugador sea una leyenda”