Former No 2 Paula Badosa picks up huge win – but big rankings drop still looms amid injury struggles
Paula Badosa press duties
Paula Badosa started her crucial Italian Open campaign with a much-needed win on Tuesday afternoon – but faces an uphill task to avoid her latest big rankings drop.
Ranked as high as world No 2 just two years ago, the Spaniard is now 126th after battling repeated injury issues – mostly with her back – since the beginning of 2023.
After retiring injured in her second-round match against Aryna Sabalenka at the Stuttgart Open last month, the Spaniard dropped out of the top 100, sitting at world No 101 when the rankings updated.
And an opening round loss to Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro at her home WTA 1000 event at the Madrid Open last fortnight saw her slip even further down the pecking order.
After failing to defend her round four points from 2023, the 26-year-old fell a staggering 25 spots to world No 126 – and is in line for another dip in Rome this week.
Badosa reached the last eight in the Eternal City a year ago, and because of that has 215 ranking points to defend.
Read More: WTA Rankings Winners and Losers Madrid – Aryna Sabalenka remains No 2, Madison Keys +4, Paula Badosa -25
But she started her campaign in fine style, producing a dominant display in a 6-2, 6-3 victory over young gun Mirra Andreeva.
Many considered 17-year-old Andreeva the favourite for the contest after her run to the Madrid Open quarter-finals last week, but Badosa held a 5-1 lead before a rain delay – and did not lose that momentum when the match resumed.
The Spaniard was set to drop outside the top 170 if she lost that match, but has earned 35 ranking points for reaching round two.
But she is still down at 163rd in the WTA Live Rankings, and an exit from the top 150 is guaranteed if she cannot beat 21st seed Emma Navarro in the next round.
Badosa’s recent struggles mean that she is unlikely to make the main draw of Wimbledon or the Olympic Games, and will likely need a Wildcard for both events – or face playing in Wimbledon qualifying.
Last month, she revealed on the WTA Insider Podcast that she was taking cortisone injections to handle her physical issues and may only have “three, four years” left of her career – but was still targeting a top-10 return.
She said: “So for me being able to play three, four more years would be amazing, and of course this year to play the full year, and achieve the highest ranking possible.
“I don’t like to put numbers, but I would like to be top 30 and top 10 again would be amazing, but I think top 10 this year is too much after all.
“Maybe in a year or a year and a half I would like to be back there.”
Badosa also announced prior to the Italian Open that she had split with Stefanos Tsitsipas after a year-long relationship.