Paula Badosa (New York, 1997) was a broken toy.

One of those promises that rise too high too soon.

In 2015 she was a junior champion at Roland Garros and reached the third round in Miami, her first time in a WTA final draw.

But then the expectations arrived, excessive.

And the doubts, many.

And the tunnel, black.

The first thing was to ask for help and name it.

Anxiety and depression.

Then take flight again.

In the last half year she has signed eighth in Paris, semifinals in Lyon and this week, semis in Charleston defeating world number one,

Ashleigh Barty

.

It has been a long way back, but Paula Badosa finally appears.



His tournament in Charleston has been the confirmation of that growth that has been pointing since last fall, when he left the tutelage of

Xavier Budó

, who is so important in his recovery, to put himself in the hands of

Javier Martí

.

On that sand pulling gray from South Carolina, Badosa beat Belinda Bencic, fifth seed and number 12 in the world, and Barty, the fifth Spanish to defeat a number one.

Before, only

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

,

Conchita Martínez

,

Vivi Ruano

and

Garbiñe Muguruza did it

.



Spanish, yes, because being born in New York was just an anecdote.

Her parents were professional models and at that time they lived in the Big Apple.

Not far from Flushing Meadows, by the way.

But he grew up in Begur, Girona, and wielded the racket in Platja d'Aro.

And atypical Spanish, more of a fast track although his first success was in Paris.

Tall, aggressive and a fan of

Maria Sharapova

.

At the age of 16, Conchita Martínez already took her from sparring to a Federation Cup, but in 2015, the season of her irruption, the CSD that

Miguel Cardenal

then led

had to accelerate so that the United States would not take her away.

Then the tunnel.



He confessed it in a video that served as an open letter in 2019. "I did not want to do anything, personally or professionally. You lose your enthusiasm for many things. For playing tennis. I felt a pressure, an obligation and some fears that I did not want to enter the track. I did not want to compete, "explained Paula Badosa, who gave that tunnel a name, anxiety and depression.

And also expensive: he came out with the help of psychologists and the hand of his coach, Xavier Budó.

The pandemic slowed its rise


It happened that making the leap to professional tennis implied a life change for which I was not prepared.

It happened that she could not digest the expectations that were thrown on her.

And it happened that watching tennis players of his generation triumph like

Jelena Ostapenko

, champion of Roland Garros in 2017 with just 20 years of age, he feared falling by the wayside.

And hence the doubts, hence the fears, hence the injuries.



"[Budó] He told me many truths that many people would not like to hear. I had to break a stone."

It was up to him to decide if he wanted to be a professional tennis player and understand that he should be one 24 hours a day.

They started working together at the end of 2018 and in a few months Badosa was already linking two semifinals in

Palermo

and

Karlsruhe

, where they only yielded to the seeds one and two.

The pandemic halted an ascending line that resumed in the autumn, already at the hand of Javier Martí.



When Barty's last right didn't catch on, Badosa put her hands to her face and covered her mouth in disbelief.

He was still puffing when he reached the bench.

One of those victories that make his desire to rub shoulders with the best more tangible.

With the semifinals in Charleston he will achieve the best ranking of his career, closing in on the Top 50. There is still time, but the way back was longer.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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