New York (AFP) – Paula Badosa reached the US Open quarter-finals for the first time on Sunday by conquering Wang Yafan as well as New York’s suffocating humidity before hailing her battling return from a potentially career-ending injury. The 26th-seeded Spaniard came through 6-1, 6-2 for her best Grand Slam result since she considered quitting the sport earlier this year. Despite the one-sided scoreline, the first two games on Sunday took 17 minutes to complete while Badosa saved all eight break points she faced.
“It was so humid I thought I was going to die,” said the 26-year-old New York-born player of the humidity which hit 85 percent at noon. “I knew she was tough but I’m tougher.”
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Badosa is the first Spanish woman to make the quarter-finals since Carla Suarez Navarro in 2018, while it has been 28 years since a Spaniard last reached the semi-finals. That honour fell to Conchita Martinez in 1996. Badosa will take on either defending champion Coco Gauff or Emma Navarro for a place in the semi-finals.
Her progress to the quarter-finals marks a substantial turnaround in Badosa’s fortunes. She suffered a stress fracture to her back at Wimbledon last year which sidelined her for the rest of the season. The former world number two returned in January but was forced to retire from three events as the issues with her back continued to be a burden on her confidence as well as her body. At the end of the clay court season, when her ranking had plummeted to 139, she pondered retirement.
“I was feeling pain every day I was waking up. So for me, it didn’t make sense. Also, tennis doesn’t make sense if I’m not on the top,” she said. “I want to play big stages. I want to play the last rounds of every tournament. I want to be one of the best players in the world. Then is when I feel motivated and excited every day. If not, for me being in the ranking I was two months ago, didn’t make any sense and I struggle a lot mentally being in that position.”
A career-best run to the fourth round at Wimbledon in July reignited the spark before a title triumph on the hard courts of Washington took her back to the top 40. A semi-final appearance in Cincinnati restored her top 30 status.
“I always had faith in myself, I had this belief that I could come back,” she said. “I knew it was going to be a process that I had to trust, that I had to be patient, but I remember saying to my coach, look, I’m going to give myself this year, and let’s see if this can work out. Well, it’s working, so I cannot complain. I’m happy with that.”
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