Paula Badosa, as far as Sabalenka wanted

In the end, Aryna Sabalenka’s overwhelming strength takes almost everything away. She drags this Saturday’s torrent to Paula Badosa, who at least has the consolation of having been there for a set, head to head, 52 minutes, which is not short. Exactly, as far as she wanted the Belarusian, a marvel of power and determination. In this monotone and straight-line tennis today, no arm of hers weighs more than hers, champion in Australia and the only one capable of challenging the throne with the powerful Iga Swiatek. She thus makes her way to the round of 16 (7-5 ​​and 6-1, in 1h 17m) and the Spaniard, very angry at this oppressive reality that she lives, regrets. Coldly, however, the analysis will be different, for sure: today, this is not her battle.

Badosa arrived in Paris with no more unfinished business than to play and resist, because the scourge on her back is still there, it doesn’t stop letting up and every presence on the court is worth gold for her today. Two victories, precious loot no matter how scarce it now seems. She overtook Katie Boulter on the first day and Yulia Putintseva on the second, but on the third, another league. Sabalenka, 26 years old, the same as the Catalan, has been demonstrating for a long time that she is one of the most consistent players on the circuit and that if she is inspired, the matches usually last as long as she decides. This one from Chatrier goes from end to end: from you to you to the monologue. She airs the second sleeve in 25 minutes.

“It’s hard to play against your best friend. She is going back to top soon, but we are good at separating things, we only focus on the game,” says the winner after escaping an ugly circumstance in the first set, in which Badosa had 5-3 and served in her favor. But there, against the ropes, the one from Minsk appeals to hierarchy and, once her overexcitement is controlled, she tempers herself and turns the scene around, as if she needed that bad time to reveal the best of tennis. she; that is, a devastating forehand and backhand, serves at 195 km/h and unparalleled aggressiveness, a very heavy and deep ball. Bomb by bomb, her motto. Wind in favor now, there is no one who can with it.

History is settled with whiplashes, without any contemplation. 74 of the 118 points that comprise the pulse are decided between one and four shots, the express route these days. And Badosa – 116th in the WTA – endures with fortitude, cold, until her opponent loses everything, she loses finesse and the dam breaks. Then the gale. After that 5-3, eight successive games and a 10-1 run. “I did a good set, but it could have been better,” she explains in the conference room. “Players like this bring out their best level in difficult moments, and I have missed a couple more mistakes than necessary,” she continues, annoyed. “They have started to fall winners [ganadores] everywhere and I have tried to hold on as best I could,” she details after receiving the 28 hits delivered by the Belarusian, who will face off against Madison Keys or Emma Navarro.

In any case, Badosa does not give up, whose mind returns to hand in hand with the spinal injury that he has been carrying for a year. “Last year I was watching this game from the couch, on television, so I have to be grateful to be here. “I have had the opportunity to play against one of the best in the world in the Philippe Chatrier,” she says before retiring without losing hope: “I want to have faith. I’m on the road, trying every week. I have won games, in Rome I lost with the three in the world [Coco Gauff] and here with two. Miracles don’t exist, I wish I could have gotten here and been in the semifinals, but it is a long process. I go day by day, and if my back is respected, I hope I can be up there again.”

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