Paula Badosa: Great Expectations - Issue #20
Paula Badosa had long been touted as the next big thing in tennis, but she had to overcome a long road to become the player and person she is today.
Written by Dove Sallow
Paula Badosa was one of the biggest stories of the 2021 WTA season. She had long been touted as the next big thing in Spain. After winning the 2015 French Open title as a junior, many even dubbed her the Spanish Maria Sharapova. 6 years after that junior French Open title and overcoming an internal battle with depression, Badosa had the breakthrough of a lifetime. This week, we’re highlighting one of the most inspiring women in tennis.
The Spaniard broke into the top 100 for the first time in 2019, but she announced herself as a top player in 2021. The turning point happened on the green clay of Charleston, where she defeated Belinda Bencic as well as world #1 Ash Barty before falling to eventual champion, Veronika Kudermetova, in the semifinals. That match against Ash was remarkable. Paula, who was ranked 71 at the time, became the lowest ranked player to beat Ash since September 2019. Badosa hit seven aces (three more than Ash) and won 6-4, 6-3. I believe this was the moment when Paula began to realize she could truly compete with the best players in the world. In her very next event in Madrid (WTA 1000), Badosa made a run to the semifinals and became the first Spanish woman to do so. En route to the semifinals, Paula defeated Barbora Krejčíková, Jil Teichmann, Anastasija Sevastova, and Belinda Bencic. Ironically, she lost to Ash Barty, who she beat 3 weeks prior (I guess no one beats world #1 Ash Barty twice in the same month). Badosa would win her first WTA title a few weeks later on the red clay of Belgrade. She carried her good form to Roland Garros, where she reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her young career, defeating former finalist Markéta Vondroušová along the way. The Spaniard made the 4th round of Wimbledon and the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics (where she beat Iga Świątek in the second round). During the American hard court swing, Paula reached the quarterfinals of another WTA 1000 in Cincinnati. She suffered an early exit at the US Open, but rebounded epically at Indian Wells. Badosa battled her way through a difficult field (Yastremska, Gauff, Krejčíková, Kerber, Jabuer) before she reached the final. And the player she would face was none other than 2-time grand slam champion, Victoria Azarenka. The Indian Wells Final was the match of the year - no question about it. Paula used every tool in her arsenal to edge out the win. She pulled out massive serves, powerful groundstrokes, and ran down every single ball. Vika matched Paula's intensity until the very end. I honestly didn't know if Badosa would have the energy left to beat Vika after overcoming such a nightmare of a draw, but the Spaniard held up. She looked out of it many times, but in the end, her heart won her this match. Paula put every fiber of her being into winning it in the final set and there's not much more you could ask of a tennis player. The win in the desert perfectly summed up Badosa’s remarkable year. Because of her title win, Paula qualified for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara and finished the year in the top 10. Badosa's success was a steadily growing snowball picking up speed ever since that initial run in Charleston. From Charleston to the WTA Finals, I couldn't help but admire her drive, and dedication to becoming the best player she could be. By the end of 2021, she had a hit list of names full of top players she'd dismantled in ruthless fashion, and the world knew Paula Badosa had arrived.
Paula’s game style is unique in the sense that she can play in a variety of ways. Like many Spanish players, she possesses the ability to hit with a considerable amount of spin on both her forehand and backhand wings and she is also a great mover. But she is not your average Spanish clay court player. Don't get me wrong, she's fantastic on clay, like many of her countrymen who came before her. But Badosa also possesses a powerful serve and a huge forehand. Standing 5 feet and 11 inches tall, she can bomb her first serve and has a pretty powerful kick serve as well. The Spaniard’s forehand is one of the most reliable shots in the modern women's game and is, by no means, a typical WTA forehand. Paula brushes under the ball and hits it with a heaviness that's much more reminiscent of an ATP forehand. She gets tremendous racquet acceleration and has a compact take-back that allows for very little to go wrong. Plainly put, when Paula hits a forehand, you just know you can trust it. It's honestly one of my favorite shots in the game right now. She's also capable of flattening it out when necessary, which she demonstrated beautifully against Harriet Dart last week at the United Cup. While the forehand is her greatest weapon, her backhand is one of the most improved shots on the WTA tour. I remember watching her a few years ago and noticing her talent and great physicality, but being underwhelmed by her backhand. Players used to be able to pick it apart - she had issues with consistency as well as putting the ball away with her backhand. When I watched her again in 2021, I was stunned at how solid the shot was. Paula now has a beautiful and underrated backhand that I believe is one of the most improved shots on tour.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, she has struggled to recapture that magical 2021 form over the last 6 months. The strangest thing about Badosa is that she's a complete player and world-class athlete, with many weapons at her disposal, but often falls into a pattern of playing too defensively. I understand that she was trained with a Spanish player's mindset (extending points, long rallies, heavy spin, building points slowly). But she falls into playing defensive tennis far too frequently. Paula moves very well for someone 5' 11", but I wouldn't say she's light on her feet. When comparing her counterpunching abilities to great movers like Simona Halep, Angie Kerber, or Elina Svitolina, Badosa's endurance is not up to par. She often looks gassed midway through matches and it's frustrating to watch. Paula is also not as adept at changing direction as the players listed above. She's a great sprinter and can rely on her quickness, but she doesn't need to rely on it as often as she does. She's tall, strong, and has serious weapons in her game that could simplify a lot of the adversity she faces in her matches. At nearly 6 feet tall, she shouldn't be starting off matches running around at the back of the court and waiting for unforced errors to come. This is likely why she's exhausted midway through matches and picks up injuries easily. With her height and frame, Badosa has a natural, God-given ability to dictate play and take matters into her own hands. Last week, when facing Harriet Dart at the United Cup, Paula started off the match playing passively yet again. She lost the first set, looked exhausted, and picked up an injury. Ironically, the injury forced her to play her best tennis as she was forced to be aggressive due to her hampered movement. Badosa pulled out all the stops - massive serves and 89 mph forehands. She ended up winning the match 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-1. The third set was probably the best tennis I've ever seen her play. If she can make the mental switch to push herself to be aggressive, Paula can be a Grand Slam champion.
Since her breakthrough, Badosa has been very open about her previous struggles that came after winning the junior French Open.
"The expectations from outside were tough... You're 18 and 19 years old. Your head isn't ready to get that kind of information," Paula previously stated, per the New York Times.
Paula was only a teenager when she won that title in 2015. The minute she won that title, the Spanish press saw an opportunity to capitalize. She was a young, talented star in the making with a resemblance to a certain Russian tennis icon, Maria Sharapova. It seemed like she had the world at her feet and it wouldn't be long before she rose to the top of the WTA tour. But life doesn't always happen the way we plan it. Paula did not break through on the professional tour as quickly as many had hoped. When a player has that type of media attention and everyone is comparing them to tennis legends at such a young age, it can be detrimental to their development as a player and as a person. In Paula's case, she was no longer just playing for herself. There were expectations and hopes placed upon her that she never asked for.
Paula told The National, "I was not motivated by anything, and then I was trying to play, I was struggling as well. I didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to lay on my bed. So it was tough and it was a long period of time... it was tough for me to come out of that. I had to treat myself and I had to be with professionals to help me with the mental health part and that was very important for me to find that person that helped me get out of that... I think the worst years for me was from 2017 to 2019 and that is where I started from zero... to start over again, to try to remember who I was before."
Paula's love of the game had been tarnished because the world couldn't just let her develop and become who she was going to become. She had to be "the next Maria Sharapova" as opposed to just being a teenager who loved to play tennis and was damn good at it.
Paula Badosa is a living, breathing example of how nobody can write your story but you. The world wanted a piece of her triumphs as well as her identity. They labeled her, compared her, and did everything they could to make her who they wanted her to be. But why? So we would read their articles. So they could sell newspapers. But at what cost? It might seem harmless to glamorize and compare these young athletes - it might even seem like a compliment. But at the end of the day, some of these players are children. Coco Gauff was only 14 years-old when everyone decided she needed to win a Grand Slam. By all means and purposes, Paula Badosa was a child when the world decided she was the next big thing. But she needed patience, support, and space to grow as a person as well as a tennis player. Quite frankly, it's wrong that the world didn't give her those things. The Spaniard is now one of the best tennis players in the world, with a career high ranking of #2, and a WTA 1000 title to her name, but she has so much more to offer the world. Paula Badosa's story will help someone out there, and that might be her greatest achievement thus far. This young lady has my respect, not only for what she can do with a ball and a racquet, but for her willingness to speak. It takes someone incredibly strong to battle depression and come out on the other side. But to speak about it so openly and courageously takes someone truly special.
Want to keep up with Paula Badosa? Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
