The Spanish suffered an injury for the semi-finals of Adelaide, which means that she will be sidelined for several weeks
Again bad news for Spanish tennis. Paula Badosa, the highest ranked Spanish player in the rankings, has been ruled out of the Australian Open at the last minute due to an injury. The Catalan was injured in the quarterfinals of Adelaide against Beatriz Haddad Maia, was unable to play the first semifinals of the year and will also miss the Australian Open.
Badosa suffers a laceration to his right thigh that will keep him off the track for several weeks and unable to defend the round of 16 he won at Melbourne Park last year.
«Bad news… During the quarterfinals in Adelaide I hurt myself and after the test results I will have to be out of work for several weeks. Sad to miss a tournament where I came with great enthusiasm and desire. I will do everything I can to return as soon as possible, “the player explained on her social networks.
This injury ends the good career of the Spanish, who won three games in Adelaide, including one against former world number two Anett Kontaveit, and will drop her further than 20th in the rankings. Badosa loses the 240 points she’s defending against last year, plus the 285 he’s already given up after failing to retain the title he won in Sydney last year. With this, Spain will not have a single tennis player among the 20 best in the world at the end of the first Grand Slam of the year.
Badosa, who started as the eleventh favorite of the tournament, had to face American Caty McNally in the first round and will be replaced by Brazil’s Laura Pigossi.
The next stop for Badosa is the tournament in Abu Dhabi, from February 6 to 12, but whether he recovers in time depends on his participation.
Spain missed out on the first title of the year in Adelaide. Roberto Bautista lost on Saturday in the final of Adelaide against the Korean Swoonwoo Kwon 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6 (4) in two hours and 45 minutes of play.
Bautista, who was looking for the twelfth title of his career, was left in the middle of the comeback after losing the first set. The man from Castellón scored the second set and had two breaks in his favor in the third, 2-0 and 4-3. He was unable to finish the game and the South Korean took victory in the tiebreak, where he took the last four points of the game.
Despite the defeat, Bautista is back in the top 25 before the start of the Australian Open, where he will defend the third round achieved in 2022.
This is the second final to be lost by a Spanish tennis player in 2023, after Rebeka Masarova’s in Auckland.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
