Badosa: "Alcaraz and Sinner are an inspiration for how they deal with pressure"

Mónica Barberán Munera | 3 Feb 2025 | 23.18

Paula Badosa at the Australian Open 2025. Photo: getty

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Paula Badosa will return to action at the WTA Abu Dhabi this week as the second seed. Following her strong performance at the Australian Open, where she reached her best result by making it to the semifinals, the Spanish player hopes to continue with the good feelings. Her return to the top 10 is a result of how well she feels physically and mentally, overcoming her lowest point that occurred with that defeat last year against Jessica Bouzas in the first round of Madrid.

It was there that Paula hit rock bottom, not knowing that her career would take a completely different turn since she won the Washington tournament months later. "Physically and mentally, I was in a very dark, very sad moment. I remember I didn't even want to leave the room," she told the WTA after her defeat in Madrid. However, as mentioned, that was a turning point that would soon translate into a sort of rebirth. It wasn't easy, but rather stemmed from an internal process of believing in herself, assessing where she stood, and contemplating retirement if things didn't go well. "Let's see what happens if I give 100% Paula. Try to draw strength from wherever to regain that power and energy. Try to finish the year, see how you end up, and from there we can make a decision," she said to herself.

And things turned out well, as we can see. However, Badosa is still in a process of consolidation, as she still has to keep fighting to stay there among the best for a long time. Although she has her sights set on the future with the WTA Finals as a goal, she is very proud of all she has achieved and overcome: "It was a bit painful last year to be so close, but of course, I couldn't ask for more. I started winning matches after six months, I started a bit late. So, I hope that this year I can react a bit earlier and be able to go to Riyadh. After all my struggles, especially in recent years, returning to the top 10, returning to this level makes me realize that I am much stronger than I thought."

Surprised by Alcaraz and Sinner

As she prepares to kick off in Abu Dhabi, the Spanish player also appeared on the Tennis Insider Club YouTube channel, where she discussed with her teammate Caroline García about her injury, depression, and her return to competition. They also addressed the topic of pressure, during which two big names in men's tennis came up: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Badosa praised how both handle pressure in difficult moments and matches: "It's true, sometimes I look at them as inspiration because they handle it well, especially Carlitos. It's incredible. He's smiling all the time. Even when the score is 5-5, he's smiling. How is that possible? I think Jannik and Carlitos are very similar. So, I believe they are an inspiration for us, dealing with pressure in that way, it's the right way to do it".

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Badosa: "Alcaraz y Sinner son una inspiración por cómo lidian con la presión"