‘Scared’ Paula Badosa may only play ‘three, four more years’ due to injury nightmare as she sets rankings target
Paula Badosa has admitted she may only play tennis for “three, four more years” as she opened up about using cortisone injections to manage her ongoing injury struggles.
Former world No 2 Badosa has struggled significantly with injuries since the start of 2023 and now finds herself outside of the top 100 of the WTA Rankings, ranked 101st.
The Spaniard’s latest injury blow came in Stuttgart last week when she was left in tears as she was forced to retire at 3-3 in the final set against Aryna Sabalenka in their round two contest.
Using a protected ranking, Badosa is still set to play at the Madrid Open this week, where she will face a qualifier or lucky loser.
Speaking ahead of her home tournament, Badosa revealed on the WTA Insider podcast that she had been having cortisone injections since Indian Wells.
And, with her injury issues persisting, she revealed that the pain was becoming easier to manage, though there were no guarantees things would continue that way.
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She said: “In Indian Wells, the doctors told me it would be very complicated to continue my career, and I said: ‘Ok, I need a solution, something.’
“We tried these injections of cortisone and they said this is the only option we can give you, and maybe you’ll have to keep doing that if you want to play for a few more years.
“I was like: ‘a few more years, I’m still 26.’ For me that was very tough and I’ll have to handle hard court especially, play less tournaments and all this.
“This is like the first time that I am opening up, so I’m still pretty scared. They said this may work for a few months but we’ll have to check again, so I’m scared I’ll have to stop again.
“It’s all the time chasing this, waking up every morning and the pain it’s there and sometimes I could not handle it, but now I can. At least that’s the positive thing.
— Paula Badosa (@paulabadosa) April 18, 2024
“Clay court will be the best for me, grass I think it will be OK also because it’s less impact, but hard courts I will suffer more.”
With the clay season ongoing and the grass court season to follow, Badosa may have an easier time of things in the coming weeks.
But with the bulk of the season played on hard courts, the three-time WTA titleist knows it will be difficult for her to extend her career for long.
Despite admitting she may only play for a few more seasons, the Spaniard is ultimately targeting a top 10 return.
“I’m treating myself every day,” Badosa added.
“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.”