With ups and downs and nerves, typical of someone who is opening a tournament, but Paula Badosa smiles to start in this Australian Open. Quality tennis and the ability to overcome unforeseen events and defeat the Chinese Xinyu Wang (6-3 and 7-6 (5)) in one hour and 27 minutes.
That regularity that gives the rhythm of matches was missing. In the Australian preseason, Badosa (27 years old and 12th in the world) had participated in the Adelaide and Brisbane tournaments, with a victory and a loss in the first and a loss in the second. But a Grand Slams is always different. There was a great first game on his part, but then came a small downturn, dangerous in the hands of Weng because he went up with a break (1-3) and forced Badosa to tighten his hand in pursuit of the winning shots. He found calm and power, and chained five consecutive games to dominate the first set without any further upsets.
Wang, 23 years old and 37th in the world, also strengthened her position on the court, especially from the back, and the match was balanced in that second set, without either of the two being able to break the dynamic until the Spanish managed to get more strong with legs, blows and head in the ninth game. A break that put her at 5-4 and serve, but that was not definitive.
The nerves at the end of the match spurred Wang, who got back into the match and forced the tie break.
There, the best Badosa, the most convinced that she is getting closer to where she wanted to be if her back had respected her in these last two seasons. Because they rose from a dangerous 0-3 and chained the definitive comeback point by point to take the victory. «I think the fight was very good. I was there at every point. It was tough mentally. I was nervous because I know the potential he has. And it was a small difference. Some days you do well and others the other way around. “I am very happy to be in the second round,” said the Catalan. On Wednesday it’s another match to get a feel for the winner of the clash between Zeynep Sonmez and Talia Gibson.
He was also happy Jessica Bouzasin the second round of the first Grand Slam of the year after taking control of the match against the British Sonay Kartal 6-1 and 7-6 (5).
Jaume Munar He said goodbye by losing against Casper Ruud in a match with many ups and downs between the two players and that lasted until three hours and 21 minutes (6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6 and 6-1).
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