Paula Badosa He left behind the feared injuries and anxiety problems that weighed him down so much in recent times to break his ceiling in Australia, where he has never played in the quarterfinals of this Grand Slam. The Catalan finally returned, two years later, to the area of the ten best rackets on the planet. To find the last Spaniard to make it this far in Melbourne, you have to go back to Garbiñe Muguruza, in 2020, when the Basque reached the final.
The Catalan tennis player, who has been supported in Australia at all times by her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas, will now face the American Coco Gauffthe third in the world.
A duel that will serve to measure the Catalan's progression and to continue with the challenge of competing against the strongest on the circuit. Coco Gauff and Paula Badosa have seen each other up to six times. The balance is tied, with three victories for each, although the two most recent matches fell on the side of the American.
At just 20 years old, the Atlanta tennis player is part of an elite group that includes Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Tracy Austin, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, the latter his main role model. Power, technique and speed make the American tennis player a physical marvel that draws attention for her precocity when she burst onto the professional tennis circuit in 2018, at just 15 years old, when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon.
Winner of the 2023 Us Open, she is one of the sensations of women's tennis. She started playing tennis at age 7, supported by her father, Corey, a former college basketball player, and her mother, Candi, who was also a college athlete. He signed up for the tennis academy New Generation en Delray Beach (Florida)where her family moved to exploit her talent, was chosen by Patrick Mouratoglou – Serena Williams' coach – for his foundation. In 2018 he signed his first sponsorship contract and his talent was identified from very early on by the legend of Roger Federerwho put her under the representation of his agency Team8.
Reference of the Black Lives Matter movement
In 2019, debuted as a professional in Indian Wells thanks to a wild card and that same year she achieved a victory that left the tennis world open-mouthed: with a double 6-4 she left Venus Williams out of Wimbledon at 15 years old and 313th in the ranking.
-To date it has achieved 8 titles on the professional circuitincluding the aforementioned Grand Slam and two WTA 1000. He has also been a finalist at the US Open in doubles in 2021, and a finalist at the Roland Garros -doubles and singles- in 2022.
Off the slopes she is recognized for the demands she makes regarding social justice and civil rights. During the remembered protests of the movement Black Lives Matterthe young woman was one of the most notable sports voices in condemning racial injustice in the United States.
Multimillionaire and with a former Spanish coach
They are real name is Cori. “I think it was my aunt who said, 'Oh, we should call her Coco,'” the young billionaire commented for Sports Illustrated Kids magazine in 2021. According to her WTA profile, the teenager has taken home more than 23 million dollars in prizes alonenot counting her sponsorship contracts and her work as an actress – she once acted as a double for Serena Williams in a Delta Airlines advertisement.
His victory in 2023 at the United States Open had a certain Spanish aroma, due to the professional relationship with the Spanish Pere Ribauntil then his coach. The Catalan left his team after the American's victory for “personal family reasons.”
«Unfortunately, it was not my decision, but we have to end the relationship. I had a great time with him and I wish him the best in his next adventure. If it were up to me, I would have liked to have him here, but things happen and life is like that,” said a tennis player who acknowledges being inspired by Carlos Alcaraz and who went from dancing in the stands of Arthur Ashe at the age of eight, to reigning in world women's tennis.
