Paula Badosa is enjoying one of the best runs of her career thus far, having brushed aside injury turmoil to shine once again.
The former world number two, having since been reduced to 27th in the world after ailments scuppered her progress, is now arguably enjoying her best form after a really tough, unpredictable year.
Winning her first WTA title of 2024 in Washington hinted at a fine run in New York to come, but few expected her to be just so good.
However, reviewing her most recent win, she actually admitted that this very nearly could have been the year where she cut short her career.
Paula Badosa considers retirement
Speaking to reporters after her emphatic fourth-round US Open victory, Paula Badosa was unsurprisingly delighted with her progress.
However, in an effort to gain some clarity and reflect on her journey throughout 2024, she looked back on a year where, just a few months ago, Badosa actually considered retiring from the sport.
Even now, those doubts remain, as she claimed: ‘In that moment I was feeling pain every day I was waking up, so for me it didn’t make sense [to keep playing tennis].
‘Also, I said it the other day, for me, with all respects, tennis doesn’t make sense if I’m not at the top. I want to play big stages, I want to play the last rounds of every tournament. I want to be one of the best players in the world. That is when I feel motivated and excited every day.
‘If not, for me being in the rankings I was two months ago, it doesn’t make any sense and I struggle a lot mentally being in that position.
‘For me, what makes sense and what makes me happy every day is to be where I am right now, in the last stages of every tournament.’
It’s great to see Paula Badosa thriving at the US Open again
In beating Wang Yafan late last week, admittedly crushing her Chinese opponent, Badosa has now matched her best-ever run at a Grand Slam tournament.
Previously reaching the quarter-finals of Roland Garros back in 2021, since then a loss of fitness and form have seen the Spaniard suffer relentlessly, spurring those thoughts of ending her career.
And who could have blamed her?
Once one of the sport’s top players, poised to challenge for elite honours week in week out, the 26-year-old was instead reduced to a shadow of her former self, unable to compete with a quality anywhere near her previous level.
Fortunately, those days seem behind her now, and with Emma Navarro next up, this is a match impossible to call.
Regardless of whether she makes it to the semi-finals or not, Badosa can still be proud of her showing and her year as a whole. 2025 promises to be a really exciting period for her after the foundation she has laid in the past nine months.
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