Paula Badosa's toughest confession: "I was very close to retiring"

Paula Badosa is smiling again. It's not a phrase to take lightly when we talk about someone who lived for many months with suffering, pain, and sadness. 2025 shows us a player who has renewed her strength, who has regained the joy of playing tennis, and, most importantly, who no longer worries every day about physical discomfort resurfacing. This was evident in her semifinal at the recent 2025 Australian Open, breaking through her Grand Slam ceiling and returning to the top-10 where she has rightfully earned her place.

Paula now appears calm, happy, and ready to face every challenge. Her next one will be the 2025 WTA Abu Dhabi, where she opens up to The National and recalls the toughest moments of a career marked by sacrifice and pain. The stress fracture in her back experienced in Rome 2023 led to an odyssey where some doctors even told her she might have to live with daily pain, reaching her lowest point at the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open.

"It was very tough. Some days, I like to be alone with my thoughts and I go back to those moments... just the thought of it is tough, it was very painful. I was very, very close to retiring," Paula confesses candidly, who ultimately found the strength to persevere and seek solutions. "What made me keep trying was that I always had faith in myself, always wanted to give myself a new chance. I also believe that the passion I have for tennis led me to keep going. I love this sport."

Before finding solutions to the problem, that Madrid tournament marked a turning point. "In Madrid, I was a complete disaster. I didn't want to leave my room. Going through that phase of my career and achieving what I have achieved since then makes me very proud of myself." After that tournament, Paula decided to make several changes within her team, especially at the physical level; she also found support in Pol Toledo, an essential traveling companion as the head coach... and began, through effort and dedication, to see results.

"I thought: 'Okay, let's give 100% until the end of the season, if possible, let's give 100%, see how you are at that moment and then you can make a decision.' I also didn't know if giving 100% would be possible due to the back issue, but I remember making a couple of changes in my team, and mentally, I have that type of personality that makes me bring out the best in me during the worst moments, makes me stronger."

A DIFFERENT SITUATION FROM WHEN SHE WAS NUMBER TWO IN THE WORLD

The rest is history: the back pains began to diminish, Paula started to gain more confidence in her tennis, and the wins and joys, including the title in Washington, did the rest. Now, Badosa arrives in Abu Dhabi with 30 wins in her last 39 matches and back in the top-10, her best position in the ranking since October 2022. back then, Paula reached the #2 spot in the rankings... but three years have completely changed the Catalan, who faces the return to the top of the rankings with a diametrically opposed mentality.

"I feel completely different. At that time, everything was very extreme for me: I went from being nobody, like 70th in the world, to being number two... in just under a year. Suddenly, I felt like everyone knew me, like I was a target, there were expectations I wasn't used to.

Now everything is different. I've been through so much, so many moments of pressure, not winning matches, losing unexpected matches, winning others where maybe I was an underdog, expectations... I've been through it all in my career, and when you've been through everything, things scare you less. And that's a bit of the difference, that now I'm not afraid. I want to win every match, of course, but if I lose, I'll be upset, I'll be disappointed... but I won't feel fear."

THE BALANCE BETWEEN AMBITION AND PATIENCE

Reaching the semifinals of the recent Australian Open was a morale boost for Paula, a sign that her tennis reaches the levels of ambition her mind commands... but finding a balance is never easy. "It's a challenge I have ahead of me now. I am a very ambitious person, but I also must not put so much pressure on myself. I always want more, it's never enough, so we are trying to find that balance, enjoy each day. When I start doing that correctly, that's when my tennis and my level come through, when I start winning matches without overthinking. That's my goal for the coming weeks."

Beyond her personal expectations and connecting with her best version, Paula also looks ahead to major tournaments thanks to the success of other players who have triumphed without necessarily being at the forefront. In this sense, the victory of Madison Keys in Australia has served to reaffirm the feeling that in the women's circuit, a couple of good weeks can make a difference... regardless of your position in the rankings.

"It was incredible. Her level was very high the whole week; when she plays like that, she's very hard to beat. Seeing her win a Slam at 30 is amazing, it makes you think that anything can happen. You don't have to be the third, second, or first seed to win a Grand Slam. You can be outside the top-10 and defeat anyone if you have the talent and the pieces of the puzzle come together at that precise moment. I think Madison found that state, that connection, all the pieces came together, and it's a fantastic story because I find it inspiring for other players." In the upcoming months, Paula will seek to replicate those fantastic two weeks... but first, back in the spotlight in Abu Dhabi, where the new Badosa wants to make her mark.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La confesión más dura de Paula Badosa: "Estuve muy cerca de retirarme"