Solid victory for Paula Badosa in her Charleston debut

After a start to the season marked by injuries and cautious results, Paula Badosa has opened its season on clay with a solid victory over the Egyptian Mayor Sheriff (62nd) in the 1st round of WTA Charleston (USA): 6-3 and 6-1 making only nine unforced errors.

Using the slide to win it 👌@paulabadosa | #CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/qmsWYcXzFh

— wta (@WTA) April 4, 2023

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The 25-year-old Catalan player will face the winner of the match between the Canadians Leylah Fernandez (51st) and the Russian Evgenia Rodina (330th) with the aim of confirming the good feelings of the premiere.

“I’ve been training a lot since then Miami and I worked hard. I think I’m playing well and I hope this starts here again,” said Badosa, recalling the bell he starred in in 2021 when he defeated the then world number 1, the Australian in Charleston Ashleigh Bartyhas been withdrawn.

“It’s impossible to forget that. I was 70th in the world then and that’s when it all started,” added Paula after her win over Sherif, who hit 19 winners and 20 unforced misses. His direct game worked for the Spaniards and this time he connected 26 ‘winners’, also minimizing mistakes (9).

Badosa a year ago was in second place in the ranking, but this week he dropped to number 33 after a disappointing start to the season, also marked by a muscle injury in his right leg that prevented him from playing in the semifinals of Adelaide WTA against Daria Kasatkina.

That injury sidelined him australia tomorrowthe first grand slam of the year, and since reemerging he has barely managed three more victories for a 7-4 overall record in 2023. His stumble against Beatriz Haddad (Doha) and Lyudmila Samsonova (Dubai) are separate jugs of cold water and, later, Elena Rybakina He was eliminated in the 3rd round of both Indian Wells WTA 1,000 Like from Miami.

However, in Miami Badosa had a match point before surrendering against the Indian Wells champion, but was unable to finish the job and was left out of the tournament. Badosa recently changed coaches after his stage Jorge Garcia: the British Joel Canell is now your new technician.