Paula Badosa 2024 in Review: Overcoming Injuries to Rediscover Her Top 10 Level
Even in 2023, Paula Badosa was doing really well whenever she was healthy enough to play. She made the quarterfinals in Rome and had a couple of tight clashes with Elena Rybakina or Aryna Sabalenka, but was only able to compete at one Grand Slam event. In fact barely able to compete as she retired in the second round to Marta Kostyuk at Wimbledon. That was the last match of her 2023 campaign and it left lots of doubts regarding how strong she could still be when the tour restarts.
Paula Badosa 2024 in Review
Back fit and back playing well
Things started trending in a positive direction for the Spaniard around Rome and that continued for the rest of the year. With three mid-match retirements by April, Badosa was even considering ending her career due to her battle with injuries (especially chronic back pain). Fortunately, she stuck around and was able to produce a really strong second half of the season that saw her almost back inside the top 10. Post-Wimbledon, she didn’t lose to anyone ranked lower than world Even in 2023, Paula Badosa was doing really well whenever she was healthy enough to play. She made the quarterfinals in Rome and had a couple of tight clashes with Elena Rybakina or Aryna Sabalenka, but was only able to compete at one Grand Slam event. In fact barely able to compete as she retired in the second round to Marta Kostyuk at Wimbledon. That was the last match of her 2023 campaign and it left lots of doubts regarding how strong she could still be when the tour restarts.
Paula Badosa 2024 in Review
Back fit and back playing well
Things started trending in a positive direction for the Spaniard around Rome and that continued for the rest of the year. With three mid-match retirements by April, Badosa was even considering ending her career due to her battle with injuries (especially chronic back pain). Fortunately, she stuck around and was able to produce a really strong second half of the season that saw her almost back inside the top 10. Post-Wimbledon, she didn’t lose to anyone ranked lower than world #12.
The finish to her clay campaign and the grass swing were already quite strong for Badosa and one can only wonder how the rest of the event would have transpired at Wimbledon had she defeated Donna Vekic in the fourth round. The Spaniard decided not to go to the Olympics and played the full North American hard court swing instead, achieving some fantastic results. Washington was her first title in over two and a half years.
US Open quarterfinal disappointment, looking ahead
She was not to be overlooked at both Cincinnati and the US Open as well. Jessica Pegula took her out of the former at the semifinal stage, while Emma Navarro took her apart a bit too comfortably in the quarterfinals in New York. That’s the one match that Badosa would likely love to get a crack at again – not that it was particularly close, but it was a huge opportunity where she let the nerves get to her. Nonetheless, it was her second Grand Slam quarterfinal after 2021 Roland Garros (and just like in Paris three years back, it felt like she could easily keep going).
Badosa didn’t slow down as the season was coming to a close either. She avenged the recent loss to Pegula (then world #3) by beating her on the way to the semifinals in Beijing and reached the same stage in Ningbo. Billie Jean King Cup Finals ended abruptly for Spain with a 0-2 loss to Poland, but the 27-year-old didn’t disappoint and took a set off Iga Swiatek in a dramatic two-and-a-half-hour clash.
The easiest way to talk about what’s to come for Badosa in 2025 is that she’s not defending much until Rome. Therefore, returning to the Top 10 seems extremely achievable. In the Elo rankings on Tennis Abstract, she’s sitting in fifth ahead of the likes of Elena Rybakina or Pegula. It wouldn’t be all that controversial to suggest that she’s playing better these days than when she was ranked #2 in the world in 2022 (that was an unusual landscape with complete domination of Swiatek and Ashleigh Barty having just retired). If she stays fit, next year might be when Badosa makes her maiden Slam semThe finish to her clay campaign and the grass swing were already quite strong for Badosa and one can only wonder how the rest of the event would have transpired at Wimbledon had she defeated Donna Vekic in the fourth round. The Spaniard decided not to go to the Olympics and played the full North American hard court swing instead, achieving some fantastic results. Washington was her first title in over two and a half years.
US Open quarterfinal disappointment, looking ahead
She was not to be overlooked at both Cincinnati and the US Open as well. Jessica Pegula took her out of the former at the semifinal stage, while Emma Navarro took her apart a bit too comfortably in the quarterfinals in New York. That’s the one match that Badosa would likely love to get a crack at again – not that it was particularly close, but it was a huge opportunity where she let the nerves get to her. Nonetheless, it was her second Grand Slam quarterfinal after 2021 Roland Garros (and just like in Paris three years back, it felt like she could easily keep going).
Badosa didn’t slow down as the season was coming to a close either. She avenged the recent loss to Pegula (then world #3) by beating her on the way to the semifinals in Beijing and reached the same stage in Ningbo. Billie Jean King Cup Finals ended abruptly for Spain with a 0-2 loss to Poland, but the 27-year-old didn’t disappoint and took a set off Iga Swiatek in a dramatic two-and-a-half-hour clash.
The easiest way to talk about what’s to come for Badosa in 2025 is that she’s not defending much until Rome. Therefore, returning to the Top 10 seems extremely achievable. In the Elo rankings on Tennis Abstract, she’s sitting in fifth ahead of the likes of Elena Rybakina or Pegula. It wouldn’t be all that controversial to suggest that she’s playing better these days than when she was ranked #2 in the world in 2022 (that was an unusual landscape with complete domination of Swiatek and Ashleigh Barty having just retired). If she stays fit, next year might be when Badosa makes her maiden Slam semifinal.
