MADRID, 18 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa retired crying this Wednesday due to her pain during the round of 16 of the Stuttgart tournament (Germany), in the WTA 500 category and which is played on clay, when she was 7-6(4), 4- 6 and 3-3 against the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, seeded No. 2 in this competition.
Badosa, as in the second round of the recent WTA 1,000 in Miami (Florida), faced her personal friend Sabalenka. And also like on that occasion, the first set saw intensity on both sides from the beginning. In fact, until the sixth game there were no break options.
They went to the Spaniard, who did not convert the first because her rival touched the line with an ‘ace’. Although the Belarusian then saved another breaking ball, in the third she sent a parallel backhand too long. Despite the mishap, Sabalenka immediately cut his deficit (4-3) and showed a fierce version that, however, barely worried his rival.
The Catalan enjoyed two balls in the twelfth game to close the set, although she did not lose them, since in the subsequent tie-break she went 1-3 up. But Sabalenka responded with vigor, chained four points (5-3) and later added that first set to her scoreboard 7-4.
The one from Minsk, despite the partial victory, conceded a break as soon as the second set started, wasted two break balls in the sixth game and on top of that she gave up her serve again in the seventh (5-2), which He corrected the pace of the match for Badosa, leaving his lost serve in an ultimately inconsequential eighth game an anecdote.
What was significant was that Badosa felt physical discomfort again, due to a history of injuries to his lower back that have hampered his season. Although she resisted half an hour more on the court, the Catalan said ‘enough’ with 3-3 in the third set, after having given up a serve and thus losing the advantage that she had in her favor.
She approached the net, told her opponent that she was going to retire, told the chair umpire as well, and the two friends merged. Badosa burst into tears as soon as she received Sabalenka’s hug, who in her statements after the match empathized with the Spaniard.
“I’m about to cry to be honest. I feel so bad for her. I love this girl… I don’t have any emotions right now. I’m not happy or sad. I just want to thank the people who stayed until the end.” final,” the Belarusian alluded to the stands.