For Paula Badosa, it's optimism and a change of perspective

Badosa d. Stearns 6-2 7-5 in Cincinnati

Last year, Paula missed the entire hard court season.

This year, she’s already won a hard court title.

After a lot of work & patience, she’s back to looking like a huge threat on tour.

✅Won 7 of last 8 matches

Thriving.

🇪🇸❤️🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/q8I8Yx6Ug4

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 14, 2024

Washington champion Paula Badosa won her first round match against Peyton Stearns in Cincinnati today, and afterwards, she talked with the media about her return to the tour after sustaining a stress fracture in her back, and her outlook about the rest of the season and beyond. Badosa, formerly number 2 in the world, is working her way back up in the WTA rankings, and--thanks to her Mubadala Citi DC Open championship--is now number 36 in the world. 

Badosa talked about the progress she had to make once she recovered from her injury. "Physically I wasn’t the same as now….I stopped for a year, I came back. Of course, physically, I was very far away from what I was when I left. I made a big change in the clay season—I started to feel I was a little bit faster."

The Spanish star said that now she knows that she can play difficult matches and go to a third set, if necessary, and not have to worry. "When I feel strong in that area, I feel strong mentally. I start to feel competitive again." Badosa was quite competitive against Stearns today, hitting nine aces an coming away with a first serve win percentage of 87. 

Badosa also talked about another change in her mentality: "I think what I improved on in that period was maybe to have a little bit more patience. Especially, I think, one of the things I think I changed a little bit is when I step into a court, I’m happy, you know, I value it. I look at the crowd sometimes, and I’m like, ‘I’m back again, you know, I’m competing again. I’m trying to entertain people.’ So that’s a little bit what changed. Before, I was 'I have to win this match, I just want to on court, leave, and win. Win, win, win…." I still want to win every match, I still put pressure on me, but I’m trying to deal with that as much as I can.”

Badosa said that her back sometimes feels stiff, but she hasn’t had to have any treatments in a while. “I can play freely and normal for the moment." Her doctors, she said, thought that she would be pain-free right away, but she wasn’t.

She's looking forward to the rest of the hardcourt season. “…one of the things that I struggled with the most when I was on the top," she said, "was putting those expectations on me, so let’s see if I learned this time.”