"Every day I woke up, I was in pain" - Paula Badosa recalls injuries forcing her to consider retirement after reaching US Open 2024 QF
Paula Badosa is through to the US Open quarterfinals, having come through a straightforward 6-1, 6-2 encounter against Wang Yafan on Sunday. The win helped her match her best performance at a Grand Slam, previously achieved at the 2021 French Open.
The Spaniard, who has battled a series of injuries in recent years, was understandably emotional after the match. She even spoke about contemplating retirement during her post-match press conference.
Revealing the constant pain that she was under during her recovery, Badosa said she felt playing tennis without being able to compete at the top would be “pointless”. Getting her ranking and playing level up, she said, was crucial for her to be able to continue.
"Every day I woke up, I was in pain," Paula Badosa said. "For me, with all due respect, tennis is pointless if I'm not at the top. I want to be one of the best players in the world and play the last rounds of every tournament."
"I don't think it would make sense to continue if I was in the ranking I was two months ago, it's hard for me mentally to be at that point. What makes me happy is where I am now," she added.
Badosa, who recently lifted her first title in two years at the Citi Open, said she had already begun to envision a life without tennis after multiple early exits. She, however, trusted the process and expressed satisfaction at having achieved positive results this year.
"At times I thought about a life without tennis, I lost very early in tournaments and I didn't know what to do, but I always had that little bit of faith in myself, that belief that I could come back," the Spaniard said.
"It was a process that I had to trust and I promised my coach to give my all this year and see if it could work. And it works! So I can't complain," she added.
"I think that was the difficult part today" - Paula Badosa on being the favorite to win US Open 4R
Paula Badosa’s injury-induced absence from the Tour had taken a toll on her ranking. Coming back from an injury, she was also an underdog in most of her recent match-ups but that was not the case on Sunday.
Playing against Wang Yafan, someone who had never been in a Grand Slam fourth round before, Badosa was the favorite. The Spaniard, however, expressed satisfaction with the way she handled the pressure despite being nervous to start with.
"I think that was the difficult part today, that maybe I was the favourite. There have been other times when I haven't managed to handle it well, because I have lost several times in the fourth round and today I was quite nervous, but I have handled the pressure quite well," Paula Badosa said.
Badosa will next take on American player Emma Navarro in the quarterfinals of the US Open.