Badosa still doesn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel

Paula Badosa continued without finding herself. The Catalan was eliminated this Sunday in the Premier 1000 in Dubai after losing in the first round to Russian Liudmila Samsonova 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-4 in a grueling encounter that lasted more than three hours.

The first set was marked by solidity in the service of both. Despite everything, Badosa had three break points in the second game and four more in the tenth that would have allowed him to close out the set 6-4. Not so and everything was decided in a tiebreak which the Girona player solved 7-3 after winning the last four points in a row.

The second set followed the same dynamic, although this time with a service break in the wings. The Spaniard achieved a break in the seventh game (4-3) that seemed to leave the game seen for the sentence, but Samsonova reacted immediately and returned an equalizer to the scoreboard that remained until 6-6.

At this moment The Russian had the coldest blood in the crucial moments of the tiebreaker to close it 7-5 and take the match to the third and final set.

The third set turned into an all-out battle that went to the Russian side in the seventh game, when Badosa delivered a serve that would prove decisive. Samsonova did not forgive the serve and closed the match with a final score of 6-4.

The Russian’s opponent in the second round, on Tuesday, is the Chinese Q. Zheng, defeating his compatriot S. Zhang 6-3, 6-1. In other matches on the first day, Madison Keys prevailed over Jasmine Paolini (6-1, 6-1), Petra Kvitova over Martina Trevisan (6-2, 6-1), Barbora Krejcikova over Irina Camelia Begu (6-4 , 6 -2) and Marie Bouzkova beat Sofia Kenin (6-1, 6-1).