Paula Badosa accused of being ’emotionally overwhelmed’ as she crashes out of US Open
Emma Navarro got the better of Paula Badosa to seal her place in the US Open semi-finals for the first time, with former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli unforgiving in her verdict on the defeated Spaniard.
Navarro followed up her fourth-round win over defending champion Coco Gauff with a 6-2, 7-5 success over the Spaniard to reach a grand slam semi-final for the first time.
It looked certain to go the distance, however, as Badosa was 5-1 up in the second set, but Navarro sensed Badosa would wobble and she went on to win 24 of the last 28 points in the match.
“Even though she was up 5-1, after that game, I felt like she wasn’t totally confident in her ability to close out that set,” Navarro said.
“I felt like if I could push back a little bit and make her think a little bit on her service game, maybe I could sneak my way back in there.
“Sometimes you’re out in the court, and you can picture yourself playing a third set.
“When I was out there, I didn’t picture myself playing a third set. I felt I could come back and do it in two.”
Badosa offered up an upbeat verdict on a US hardcourt swing that included a big tournament win in the WTA 500 event in Washington and this encouraging run at the US Open that got her back in the top 20 of the WTA Rankings.
Yet the 2013 Wimbledon champion believes Badosa was beaten mentally as much as physically by her opponent.
“Badosa will learn from this,” Bartoli told Sky Sports. “She obviously has never reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, and I think it’s more emotional than tennis wise because she has the tennis, the weapons, the fitness levels.
“She has the game but emotionally she gets overwhelmed. And she did today in a situation where she was in control.
“She has to keep working on that because it takes a psychological jump to get over that barrier. She lost that second set purely on that.
“Navarro stayed steady but Badosa broke into pieces when she was in control.”
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Former British No 1 Tim Henman also gave his verdict on Badosa’s defeat, as he also pointed to her mental strength as a factor in her defeat.
“At 5-1 to Badosa in that second set, we are all thinking it was going to be a one-set shootout for the semi-finals, but Navarro had other ideas,” said Henman.
“That’s what great competitors do. They fight for each and every point and game. They never think they’ve lost a set until it’s over.
“The pressure switched back to Badosa because she knows she had so many opportunities and didn’t finish the second set off.
“Navarro is a fortune-teller as well as a great tennis player. It was amazing to hear her say that.
“I just love her attitude as a whole. She’s so understated. She’s comfortable and confident out on court.”
Badosa found silver linings amid her disappointment, as she insisted she was content with her run of results over the last few weeks.
“Now I say it’s a disaster, but when I started in Washington I would sign all the results, for sure,” said Badosa.
“Coming from where I’m coming from, look, I have to be happy. I don’t know. Maybe I’m 15 in the race, so I wasn’t expecting that a few months ago. So on that, I’m really proud of myself.
“The thing that for me makes me the way I am today, it’s a Slam and your dream is always to make last rounds in a Slam.
“Performing the way I performed today, I know that if it wasn’t a Slam I would perform well. So that’s what’s a little bit why I’m like this today, you know. Because I didn’t know how to handle it the best way. Now I have to wait four months for the next Slam, so it sucks.”
