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'Complete disaster': Spain's top-ranked female tennis player rues missed chance after grand slam loss
Tennis

'Complete disaster': Spain's top-ranked female tennis player rues missed chance after grand slam loss

Paula Badosa, who considered quitting the sport two months ago, was so close to becoming the first Spanish woman to reach the US Open semi-finals in 28 years

Anthony Piovesan

Malaga

Wednesday, 4 September 2024, 15:29

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Spanish tennis star Paula Badosa minced no words after Tuesday's loss in the US Open quarter finals, describing her performance as a "complete disaster".

The current world number 29 let a 5-1 lead slip in the second set before losing to Emma Navarro of the United States, 6-2 7-5. The Spaniard said the occasion overwhelmed her as she was just one win away from becoming the first female Spanish tennis player to reach the semi-finals of the US Open in 28 years. Conchita Martínez was the last Spanish woman to reach the last-four in New York in 1996.

"I'm very disappointed with my level today," Badosa said. "I think she played really good and she managed the situation really well, and I was a complete disaster."

"I just stepped on the court, and I felt weird," the 26-year-old said. "I was surprised at myself, because normally I like to play these things, but I think it's not the court. It was more the round for me, and seeing myself sometimes so close, but so far at the same time. I think my mind was everywhere except in the present."

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Badosa's surge into the quarter-finals in New York is a sign of a twist in her fortunes since suffering a potential career-ending injury last year.

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 then returned in January but was forced to retire from three tournaments as she continued to be plagued with lingering back issues. She then pondered quitting the sport after this year's French Open when her ranking had plummeted to 139.

Now, she is currently ranked 29 following a hot streak of form since she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in July. That sparked a title triumph on the hard courts of Washington and then a semi-final appearance in Cincinnati which restored her top 30 status.

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