Badosa wins with a header

We said it in the preview, Paula Badosa is a whirlwind of emotions on the track and off it. She goes from laughing to crying, from despair to hope in a heartbeat. He transmits contradictory sensations in the same match and in the press conferences. And when he manages to control the situation, he wins. He did it this Thursday at Roland Garros, to solve a duel that began with his dominance and that it was complicated to the point of winning the first set with difficulty and losing the second, before resolving in the third: 7-5, 3-6 and 6-2 in two hours and 17 minutes.

The Spaniard will seek the pass to the second week on Saturday against Veronika Kudermetova, who leads 3-2 in the head-to-head, although the two defeats were conceded by the Russian in her last two meetings, this year in Indian Wells and Madrid. “It was a difficult game, but she expected it because she had been playing very well. I’m very happy for the fight I put on the track”, said Paula. “There were times when I was very nervous and a bit stressed, because she got to all the balls, and I tried to be as calm as possible and continue to play aggressively,” she added. “I hope to resemble Rafa a little one day,” he joked when asked if he was left-handed, because he plays with his right and writes with his left, unlike the Balearic.

It was not easy for Badosa to beat Juvan, an unpredictable tennis player, who beat Sabalenka in Adelaide and a week ago Pliskova in Strasbourg, where she was a finalist, capable of the best (good right hand and left hand, some even direct return) and the worst (blushing cut shots). The defensive capacity of the 21-year-old Slovenian and 68th in the world sometimes twitched the number four. That and the weight of the ball. “It’s not going, it’s like that (fat)”, she snapped at her team with a gesture of open hands. She had won the first set (5-2), but her rival came close to coming back. It was a warning of what came later, in the worst moments of the player based in Dubai. “I don’t put one in,” she was heard saying at Suzanne Lenglen, a court where tennis is seen very closely and everything is heard.

Serenity

The effort of the reaction took its toll on Juvan, who requested medical time out due to back problems. However, the third round started well, with a dangerous break and Badosa was given a warning for receiving instructions from his coach, Jorge García, with whom he communicates verbally and by gestures continuously, although not always with strategic intent. From then on, and after a long point and work that turned around, Paula calmed down, hit more winners (35 in total) and went over Kaja, with two breaks and balls for a third.Good sign in your search for confidence and a winning mentality. Being resolute fills it: “I wasn’t feeling that competitive streak that I have, it was still there, but I wouldn’t bring it out. Doing it again gives me the confidence that I want.”