‘Absolute disgrace’ – WTA star slammed after escaping disqualification for racket throw
Paula Badosa has been branded an “absolute disgrace” for her racket-flinging antics at the 2026 Iasi Open, where she escaped a disqualification in her semi-final win.
The former world No 2 secured a hard-fought 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1) last-four victory over Tamara Zidansek to set up a final with Mayar Sherif last weekend.
The Spaniard had never lost a WTA final heading into the showpiece match in Romania on Sunday, having won in Belgrade (2021), Indian Wells (2021), Sydney (2022), and Washington (2024).
But the Egyptian proved too much for her in the WTA 250 event, with the 28-year-old losing the first set 6-4 and then retiring when 4-0 down in the second.
That run to the final of the clay court tournament saw her jump 22 places to 90th in the rankings, but there was an argument to say that she should not have been in the final.
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That prompted Serena Williams‘ coach, Rennae Stubbs, to lay into the former Australian Open semi-finalist for her callous actions.
Stubbs, who is a four-time women’s doubles major winner, felt that Badosa should have been defaulted immediately after hurling her racket off the court early in the third set.
Wow, Badosa threw her racket yesterday and was almost disqualified…
Horrible miss and she threw out her racket…Just missed the ball kids.
— SK (@Djoko_UTD) July 20, 2026
While the racket landed just short of the spectators in the stands, Stubbs felt this was reprehensible behaviour.
She said on the latest episode of her podcast, “Automatic default. That was an absolute disgrace. You know as a player, when you let go of a racket out of your hand, whatever happens after that is on you. No matter if it’s ‘unlucky’.
“You had control of the racket in your hand, and you let it go. If it goes into the stands you should absolutely be defaulted immediately and that is the only way to stop it.”
Badosa got away with a code violation warning from the chair umpire. Had the racket hit a fan, she would have been immediately disqualified from the contest.
The Dubai resident made it through to the final before withdrawing when Sherif was in touching distance of victory. Badosa has had a number of injuries and it seems her body let her down once again.
She later said, “I’m always a player that’s very honest and real. I have to say I hate this moment right now, I hate losing a final and I’m really sorry that I had to do it in this way but I couldn’t keep up with my body so I apologise for that also.
“But I also want to say, one month ago I was in one of the worst losing streaks of my career and one month after I made one of the best winning streaks of my career…lately we have had a little more positivity.”
Badosa will be back in action at the WTA Hamburg Open this week.
