Tennis: The athlete to watch

For any sports lover, ‘Robinson Report’ has marked an era. Not only did he analyze, study and dissect the topics of greatest sporting interest like no one else, but his focus and his way of telling were unique, where the ingenuity of the mythical Michael Robinson was the main architect of a program that dazzled with each of his broadcasts and whose legacy has now been picked up by ‘Informe +’. And, possibly, one of the chapters that marked me the most was ‘In the shadow of Nadal’: accustomed to spotlights, joys, impossible comebacks and dreams achieved, sometimes —more than we think— failure is part of the sport.

That episode tells the story of young promises of national tennis that they had everything to succeed, but that they failed to reach the elite, mainly embodied in a proper name: Carlos Boluda. The already ex-tennis player from Alicante -officially retired at the age of 27 at the beginning of 2021- pointed out ways to be the ‘new Nadal’: not only did he win Le Petit As when he was 13 years old, but the following year he did it again, being the only one in male category to get it. He had an aggressive, bright and elegant tennis … but something changed. The injuries, the pressure and the bewilderment about what was happening to him prevented him from even making the ball go over the net.

He was just a young man who pointed out ways, but was raised too soon, when he was not yet mature to internalize what the pressure entailed. Tennis was his passion, his life, his dream … but suddenly, without much explanation, his game, which used to come naturally, evaporated and jumping onto the court became almost a punishment. Unfortunately, this situation is more common than we believe in elite sport, where children are exposed to a pressure that they should not assume, when they should only have fun and be happy with what they do. It is a situation similar to the one our protagonist experienced this week, a phoenix ready to fight.

Paula Badosa came to the national tennis as a breath of fresh air. Born in New York in 1997, she discovered the sport almost by chance, but soon fell in love with the world of the racket and, most importantly, proved that she had qualities to get very high. So high were the expectations he generated with his game that, after winning the tournament San Jorge ITFAt the age of 16, she was summoned by Conchita Martínez for the Federation Cup team. It was 2014 and the best was yet to come: a year later, the consecration would arrive that the Girona-based tennis player was called to be one of the future stars of national tennis.

In 2015, it would become Roland Garros champion in junior category, the same year in which he would debut as a professional on the WTA circuit, in which he managed to reach the Miami Masters third round. His tennis was growing, the expectations were increasing and his successes too, becoming in 2017 in champion of Spain after defeating Carla Suárez in the final … but something changed. Badosa herself explained it in ‘Marca’: “He had talent, but I was not prepared for what people expected or for the pressure who got on top of me. “And then the depression crossed his path, leaving tennis in the background.

“The depression came because of not doing things well, I had a lot of pressure and anxiety, I had many fears because I saw that I did not meet expectations. You have to tell it to normalize things. I did not want to go to a track and less to compete, but it also affected my personal life. He did not want to leave the house nor did he feel like doing anything, “he explains. At that moment, he decided to look at his two idols, Nadal and Sharapova, to try to understand what was happening to him and how to get out of that deep well in which he was. Two words were key: listen and humility. Enjoying again and being happy with what I was doing was the key.

They were very hard months, where Badosa had to fight her own ghosts to smile again. But he did what Boluda failed: find the path in which tennis flowed naturally through his veins again. The talent had not disappeared and, little by little, he began to get rid of his fears … Of course, starting from the bottom, from ITF tournaments to the top. In a couple of years, he added five new ITF titles to his track record for, year after year, to climb positions in the ‘ranking’ of the WTA … until 2021. At 23, he has found the stability he needed and is signing the best year of his professional career.

For the first time in his career, reached the semifinals of two WTA tournaments, Madrid (WTA 1000) and Charleston (WTA 500), to, just a few days ago, make history and get their first title, becoming champion in Belgrade (WTA 250) ante Ana Konjuh. Only a few months ago, Badosa was immersed in a depressive process that prevented her from even leading a normal life: based on work, effort and learning, she has not only overcome one of the hardest stages of her life, but has also achieved smile again and enjoy what you like the most, tennis. And, now, it remains to be known where the roof of the Spanish tennis player is.

Her triumph in Serbia has raised her to 34th place in the WTA, the highest of her career, and many of the experts in the world of tennis consider her to be one of the great covers for Roland Garros, that tournament that he already won in the junior category. Badosa has become a phoenix, a young promise who had everything to succeed but who he did not know how to assimilate the success and that, now, he has overcome adversity, has punched the table and has shown what he is capable of. His dream? Win a Grand Slam. In his hands is to give the bell in the French clay. For her. For Spain. For those who were not able to overcome the pressure. By Carlos Boluda.

For any sports lover, ‘Robinson Report’ has marked an era. Not only did he analyze, study and dissect the topics of greatest sporting interest like no one else, but his focus and his way of telling were unique, where the ingenuity of the mythical Michael Robinson was the main architect of a program that dazzled with each of his broadcasts and whose legacy has now been picked up by ‘Informe +’. And, possibly, one of the chapters that marked me the most was ‘In the shadow of Nadal’: accustomed to spotlights, joys, impossible comebacks and dreams achieved, sometimes —more than we think— failure is part of the sport.