Badosa drops one champion (Kvitova) and goes for another (Halep)

Paula Badosa, 24 years old and world number four, he will repeat his presence in the Wimbledon round of 16, a round where he remained in 2021. He returned to the fight after making a niche with a great victory against the two -time champion of the tournament and Eastbourne’s recent WTA winner, Czech Petra Kvitova, 32 years old and number 26.

The Spaniards prevailed by 7-5 and 7-6 (4) in two hours and 5 minutes of the premiere at the heart of the All England Club, the ‘Cathedral’ of world tennis. Excellent student performance Jorge Garcia overcome a hesitant start, a product of nerves, against a very important opponent, especially in the grass.

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There is no rest for the Catalan, because on Monday he will face another rival to be seen on the list of Wimbledon winners, the Romanian. Simona Halep, which dominated in 2019. He hasn’t stepped foot in the club since, and continues to thrive upon his return. She defeated Polish Magda Frech 6-4 and 6-1.

The table is open, more after the KO of world number one, the Polish Iga Swiatek. After 37 victories, he fell into the hands of the French Alize Cornet by 6-4 and 6-2.

Badosa entered the middle with the logical tension of playing for the first time on an impressive stage. It was worth him to go tow for an early ‘break’. It was two games (0-2), then he started to make it clear to Kvitova that the game was his. He bit Begur hard, with the option to recoup every serve of the Czech, who fought back with a favorable point.

An 18 point game, with two breaking balls, he announced that Badosa was coming from behind strong (1-3). The reward for insistence and more regularity against an opponent who has lived in service is missing. The Spaniard snatched it from him at the crucial moment, for the seventh time and prevented the closing of the set (5-5), which would be his 4-0 run as he had more games than ‘kamikaze’ up front. to him, which he surrendered to double fault for 7-5 in 58 minutes.

First set for Badosa against Kvitova, his executioner in Australian Open 2020 by 7-5 and 7-5. And to continue a battle with a lot of decisive serves: Paula came off 10 on 11 break balls, 9 on 10 in the second set. He remained steadfast to reach the tiebreak against a Kvitova who saved 7 of 9 balls from the rotua, but all in the first set.

Badosa resisted Kvitova’s attempts to recover, which led her to an all-or-nothing in which she took a 4-1 lead to take the Czech into more trouble. Paula did not leave the dam, sealing a highly prestigious success on the grass. More solid, 16 wins and 11 unforced errors, without falling into Kvitova’s pim-pam-pum trap (34 and 30, respectively), choosing when she should be aggressive and when to temporize.

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After the bitter injury to a calf at Roland Garros, back in the fight. Demand is high, he lost to Halep this year in Madrid 6-3 and 6-1.

“For me it was an incredible achievement,” Badosa said, recalling that in her junior days she saw Kvitova win Wimbledon at this very stage. “He was an inspiration,” he said of the Czech.