The Spanish women who are still alive in the Australian Open: Paula Badosa is the last hope

Tennis is back and in a big way, because like every year it starts with one of the best tournaments of the season, the Australian Open. The first Grand Slam returns the best tennis players on the planet to the competitionwith a voracious hunger and desire to start a title that puts them in an unbeatable situation for the rest of the campaign. In the men's category all the focus is on three men, Carlos Alcaraz, who has never won here; Novak Djokovic, 10-time champion; and above all, Jannik Sinner, world number 1 and defender of the crown. But Among women everything is much more open and we even have Spanish prominence.

The 2024 champion, Aryna Sabalenka arrives as the first in the ranking and will try to retain the title. Behind her appear names like Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff or Elena Rybakina, but there are some 'outsiders', among which Paula Badosa stands out. The Catalan has returned in a big way and has a dream, to be crowned with her first 'Grand Slam' on a court that she is not bad at at all.

Spanish tennis is not at its best, but you can dream

Spanish women's tennis is not at its peakIn fact, there are hardly any representatives in the top 100, but there is Badosa. The one from Begur was on the verge of retiring due to a back injury, which with comings and goings kept her out of work for more than a year. However, in the latter part of last year it revived. She went from not being among the best hundred to bordering the 'top ten' and almost qualifying for the WTA Finalsbut now he wants endorse it in Melbournewhere she is the eleventh favorite.

For now, after two notable failures in Brisbane, where they lost in the first round, and Adelaide, where they only won one matchbut suffered a very important defeat in the second phase. But in her debut at the first major of the year she was able to beat China's Wang Xinyu, and now In the second phase she is a very favorite against the local Talia Gibsononly 20 years old and far from the top 100. On paper Paula has the upper handbut it would not be the first time they have suffered resounding defeats in these rounds. If they win they have a very tough situation, but at the same time they have the necessary confidence to face it.

Bucsa, Bouzas…

Beyond our number 1, Spanish women's tennis almost reached the top in the first round, as only Nuria Parrizas gave in to the American Iva Jovicbut in the second she has not been able to do the same, since both Cristina Bucsa and Jéssica Bouzas have fallen in their second match in Melboourne. The Cantabrian did it before the 30th favorite, the Canadian Leylah Fernández, who despite not being in her best moment, was a very tough nut. And that Bucsa started by winning the first set 3 to 6however in the following ones he deflated and after losing the next two by a double 6-4, his participation ended fighting until the end.

Y Special mention deserves the great promise, Jéssica Bouzas, which continues to grow by leaps and bounds, but there is still one more step left, as has been seen in Australia, where She had the worst possible opponent in the second round, the world number 1, Aryna Sabalenka. Against the current champion Bouzas has given everything, holding on to Rod Laver until the endthe center court. After paying the shock at the beginning due to a scenario like this, they lost the first set by 6 to 3. However, in the second they put the Minsk player on the ropes, who needed to go up to 7-5 to close the game in 94 minutes, but suffering much more than expected.

The one from Pontevedra already experienced a similar situation at Wimbledon last year, although with a different ending, as she faced the 2023 champion, Marketa Vondrousova, in her debut and won with ease, however, The Belarusian has been another story and although fighting and leaving everything, she has ended up losing.