Huge, impressive, tremendous Paula Badosa. The Spanish won a couple of days ago for the first time a top-20, the number 12 in the world, Belinda Bencic, and This Friday he had a snack, he could say fulminated (6-4 and 6-3 in 76 minutes), at one o'clock, on paper the best, Ashleigh Barty. At 23 he achieved the most important victory of his career, which put him in the semifinals of a WTA 500, the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, on a greenish-gray earth. Grown up, how can it be otherwise, will face Saturday Veronika Kudermetova.
For those of you unfamiliar with Barty's game, the truth is that it has very few flaws. She is the leader of the ranking because her game has a bit of everything. He serves well, has a good drive hit and the best cut backhand on the circuit. She makes a few crazy stops and is a great subtractor. She may not have a devastating winning shot, but she hits very hard and can score points in many ways because she has a little hand for a scan and is a great doubles player. Well, against all that Badosa fought, who after beating McNally in the round of 16 said he wanted to meet at bug, and he prevailed, which gives tremendous credit to his victory. The 24-year-old Australian has been on the throne of women's tennis for 40 weeks in a row, 47 in total, and it's no accident.
But Paula's game choked her because she was a rival who played her without complexes and served even better than her. She has more and more punch and is fast with her legs, very fast, and also with ideas. In that way he withstood the constant pressure of Barty and lifted him up to 12 break balls. Particularly important were the three he saved in the last game of the first set at 0-40.
Confirmation
Then he opened the second heat with a break. The aussie, champion of Roland Garros, let's not forget, leveled and then resisted a first attempt to break Badosa, which bothered her in every rest. Since 3-2 the recent winner of the WTA 1,000 from Miami, has not scratched a game again and gave up with her serve. What has been said, a big hat for the Catalan with everything that happened in Australia, including the passage through COVID-19 and a long isolation together with his coach, Javier Martí, who seems key in his excellent progression, which means, for the moment, climbing nine places in the classification, to 62.
Table, results and calendar.
Badosa: “I wanted to show that I could beat number 1”
Already at a press conference after the game, Badosa analyzed the keys to his triumph in front of the number 1 of the WTA ranking.
Step forward: “It was like a personal exam because I wanted to show that I could beat players like that. I am very happy because she mixed a lot of styles of play, something that surprised me and that I did not expect. I served very well, being aggressive when I had the opportunity. I knew I had to go to the game like this. When you play No. 1, the energy and nerves are different than in any other game. I tried to be focused on myself, I have succeeded and I am very happy. “
Aspirations: “To be able to beat anyone? Yes, well, women's tennis is a bit like that. There are very tough games that you don't expect and others that you didn't even think to win and you win. That's why I'm emphasizing a lot being well every game, because every one is a world. There are players who are outside the top-100 and sometimes they play top-10. It is a bit like that. This victory gives me confidence and in this tournament anything can happen. “