Badosa withdraws from Adelaide three days after debuting in Australia

Paula Badosa decided to put an end to her career at the Adelaide International 2 before playing the semifinals that she was to play against Daria Kasatkina. The organization of the WTA 500 category event announced this morning the The Spanish tennis player is out due to a “right thigh injury”, thus qualifying Kasatkina directly to the final of the tournament. This withdrawal comes just three days after the premiere of Badosa at the Australian Open.

In the absence of Badosa herself ruling on her inconvenience, everything indicates that she has made a precautionary decision. The day before her withdrawal, the Catalan played a tough match against the Brazilian Haddad Maia, which se went to more than two and a half hours despite only having played two sets. Badosa ended up exhausted and, minutes before it was known that she would not jump onto the track in Adelaide, the organization of the Australian Open announced that the part of the draw in which the Spanish is It would start on Monday.

Had she beaten Kasatkina, Badosa would have played in the Adelaide final on Saturday, just 48 hours before his debut in the first Grand Slam of the year. With this withdrawal, the New York-born has three days to reach Melbourne (a city that is more than 700 kilometers from Adelaide) and prepare her debut on Monday against the American Catherine McNally, 21-year-old tennis player and number 95 in the world. .

After saying goodbye to Adelaide in an unexpected way, Paula will also suffer a new fall in the WTA ranking. Next Monday, the Spanish will lose 285 points (she was defending 500 from her win in Sydney last year) and will appear in 16th place in the world rankings. The Australian Open will be the first time for Badosa to recover positions in the ranking, since if he overcomes the barrier of the round of 16 he will be improving his result of 2022.

To date, Paula had signed a great start to the season, counting the four games she has played in 2023 for victories and at a good level. Once again, doubts appear regarding the physical state of a Badosa that last season withdrew in up to four different tournaments, and the figure rises to six since the last Olympic Games. Now, the Spanish wants to take all kinds of precautions to reach the first Grand Slam of the year at a good time.