Belarusian Aryna SabalenkaNo. 2 in the world, She ended the resistance of the Spanish Paula Badosa He qualified for the round of 16 at Roland Garros for the second year in a row, 7-5 and 6-1 in an hour and 17 minutes.
The Catalan player, ranked 139 in the rankings in which she was second, fought through the first set, even when she was equal. He had a chance to score the set at 5-4But in that moment came the reaction of the winner of the last two Australian Opens, who had been on a seven-match winning streak.
Badosa’s morale suffered, who reached the third round after two wonderful comebacks, and was unable to respond against the strong qualifier of the last two tournaments in Madrid and Rome.
The Spanish woman was on the verge of reaching the round of 16, which she played twice at Roland Garros, in 2020 when she reached them from the qualifying stage, and the following year when her journey stopped in the quarter-finals. the The conclusions drawn from his participation in this edition are positiveTaking into account his country of origin and the back injury that puts his career in jeopardy:”I’m not at my best yet, but I’m on the right track. I try every week. Now I’m winning matches, in Rome I lost to the three in the world, and today to the two. I go step by step, knowing that miracles do not exist. “I hope I can get there and reach the semi-finals, but it is a long process and I will try to enjoy it as much as possible.”
The two friends off the court, Badosa and Sabalenka, excelled in a wonderful duel, but Minsk won, as she did this year in the Miami tournaments, and more recently in Stuttgart, where the Spanish player was forced to withdraw due to a back problem. Badosa explained why she got along well with Sabalenka: “She is a very natural, honest person and on the court she is very enthusiastic and passionate. We need charismatic tennis players on and off the court. He is a nice and simple person. He always tries to help everyone. There are players on the ring who inspire others. That’s why We are good friends. I think even if he wins 10 more Grand Slam titles, he will still be what he is, an extraordinary person“.
Sabalenka also had good words for Badosa and had no doubt that he would “soon return to the top.”
With Paula’s fall, Spain has only one representative in the round of 16 from the singles draw. Carlos AlcarazNo. 3 in the world, who will face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday.
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