The Harsh Reality of Badosa: Knocked Out in the First Round in London

Paula Badosa continues to be trapped in a spiral she can’t escape from. This time, it’s a quick hello and goodbye to Wimbledon, where she arrived in the same way she landed in Paris at the end of May: fighting with her body. Back then, she was coming off a two-month break due to back issues, and this time it’s a strain in her psoas, sustained ten days ago in Berlin, that has affected her approach to a tournament that she is eager to compete in but hasn’t quite been able to gel with, for one reason or another. This time, local player Katie Boulter halted her progress, resulting in a painful defeat: 6-2, 3-6, and 6-4 after 1 hour and 54 minutes. She managed to survive the first two rounds at Roland Garros, but here she exits in the first round, just like in 2019. She is struggling.

This is the harsh current reality of a tennis player battling against herself and, simultaneously, against the nature of her sport: tennis waits for no one. There is no solace. Physically, she held up this Monday, but in the heat of the moment, she says there is nothing to salvage. As expressive as her words is the tone of dejection, alongside her body language. “No, not even that…” she begins before reporters, already at night. “But it is what it is; at least I was able to compete until the end, and she [ranked 41st in the world] played well, so congratulations to her,” she continues resignedly, tired of the back-and-forth she has faced since February, with forced breaks and comebacks without enough time to regain necessary rhythm.

“I’m so tired of this…,” she recently admitted on her social media, an open book as she is. All that’s left is to keep pushing. How does one get out of this situation? “In the end, that’s the hardest part—seeing yourself well and then having to stop again, then come back… It feels like you’re always trailing behind, doesn’t it?” she responds to this newspaper’s inquiry. “A solution? I don’t have one; if I did, I would have implemented it. All I can do is accept what is beyond my control and keep fighting, of course, because I know that when I’m well, I’ve shown that I’m one of the best in the world,” the 27-year-old Catalan continues, citing six tournaments she has had to withdraw from this season, including Indian Wells, Madrid, and Rome; three retirements and one refusal have also added to her woes.

“The positive part is that now there are a few weeks left before the American tour [in early August] to recover properly, to genuinely take a break because I haven’t been able to do so, and after Berlin, I was a bit on the edge with the psoas. But well, I suppose I’ll have a few days now, and hopefully, I can come back strong there because, in the end, that’s what’s important—arriving strong because the rest will follow,” says Badosa, supported by all members of her team. An emotional athlete, the very same emotional impact that currently brings her down will push her to keep trying with faith from here onward.

Boulter was by no means an appealing opponent, given her solid performance on grass—champion in Nottingham in 2023 and 2024, as well as a semifinalist this season—and the difference in match experience between the two players. There were debates, but the initiative largely came from the Brit, who acted decisively and celebrated the victory as it is a win against a prominent player—the Spaniard still holds the ninth world ranking, although she is at risk of dropping out of the top-10 on the 14th—and, importantly, on the sacred central court of London. Thus, Badosa leaves with her head bowed, eliminated in the first round, having struggled since reaching the semifinals in Australia. From January to June 30, two radically different worlds for her.