Paula Badosa opens up on ‘smart decision’ to skip Paris Olympic Games
Paula Badosa believes it was the “smart decision” for her to prioritise the hard-court summer in North America – and skip the Olympic Games.
Former world No 2 Badosa got her Washington Open campaign off to a flying start on Tuesday, defeating former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-1, 7-6(6) to reach round two.
The Spaniard was also in doubles action alongside fellow former No 2 Ons Jabeur, winning their opening round match before withdrawing as an injury precaution.
Badosa has cruelly been plagued by injury issues in recent times and revealed earlier this season she was taking regular cortisone injections.
Despite that, the Spaniard has found some promising form recently, reaching round three of the French Open before reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon – losing to eventual semi-finalist Donna Vekic in round four.
That run propelled her back into the top 70 of the WTA Rankings, and speaking after her win against Kenin, she cited physical concerns for her reason to avoid an unnecessary surface change onto clay.
She said: “In the last two tournaments that I played on grass I felt good sensations and I have to say that I felt good.
“In the last one [Wimbledon] it was a shame because I was very close and I showed a great level, I am confident in view of the season on hard courts – I love this phase.
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“My back is responding well, if I continue to change surfaces I risk having problems and it’s not worth it for me, especially given the situation at the beginning of the season.
“Sometimes all this scares you mentally, I want to avoid these feelings and I think it was a smart decision.”
Badosa is by no means the only player to have made such a decision.
The field in Washington is stacked, and the women’s draw is headlined by world No 3 and two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka missed Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury, though had confirmed prior to that she would not head to Paris due to scheduling concerns.
Jabeur and former US Open winner Emma Raducanu also made the same decision, with the former slamming the crammed schedule earlier in the week.
“You can see the timing between the Olympics and Toronto is really, really tight. Honestly, I don’t think the schedule of this year in general suits any professional tennis players,” she said.
“I don’t see I am the only one that took this decision. I know there are so many players that had different injuries, and they chose not to risk it because of that.”
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