Paula Badosa’s season appeared to have been cut short by injury, but she is preparing for one last hurrah at this week’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville.
Spanish star Badosa is back on home soil as she prepares to play for her nation in the women’s World Cup of Tennis, as she looks to return to action after a back injury that ruined the second half of 2023 for the former world No. 2.
“It’s a mix of emotions, it has been a very tough year for me,” Badosa told billiejeankingcup.com. “Finally coming back to play here, playing in front of my crowd at home, as a team – I love to play for Spain, so for me it’s very special.
“I was working every day we had with the physio. We were looking for me to play earlier, but my back wasn’t responding in a good way, so I had to be very patient.
“I never stopped completely. I was all day in physio and rehabbing. Finally all of a sudden one day I didn’t feel the pain anymore. So it was amazing news for me. That’s when I started to play tennis again.”
The hosts looked set to go into their Billie Jean King Cup Finals matches against Canada and Poland without their star player, with Spain captain Anabel Medina Garrigues delighted to have Badosa back in her team.
“It’s a big surprise because, as everybody knows, she was announcing that she finished the season,” Medina Garrigues says.
“But when she called me and she said that she was feeling better, that she didn’t have pain, that she was starting to practice and she had good feelings, and that she wanted to be in the team it was really good news.
“Of course, everybody knows who Paula is, her level. She couldn’t play this year because she was injured, but her level is super high. Having her in the team is very good news.”
Badosa’s time away from the court has not impacted her ability to attract headlines in the tennis and sporting media.
Her high-profile romance with Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has been a consistent source of fascination, with their love story played out on Instagram and they find time to meet up with either around their busy sporting schedules.
There were rumours a few weeks ago that their romantic ties may have been severed after their joint Instagram account had all it’s images deleted, but Tsitsipas is very much still in love with his girl.
“I feel happy and content,” said the world No 6.
“I haven’t really felt that type of connection with anyone before. I don’t mean to sound cringe or anything because that’s the reality and that’s what I am faced with. I am extremely blessed and happy that this came at this phase of my life.
“I get to do what I love and I get to do it with someone who completely understands me and gets it. I have been very interested in her mind more than anything else.
“Of course there is attraction but it’s also sometimes just a soul interaction and getting to fall in love with her mind. It’s very rare that these things happen.
“It’s like we share the same identity: same lifestyle, same desires, same passions, same ambitions. It’s the same. It’s wonderful to be a part of it and to experience it every day.
“People who claim that I am no longer focused on tennis, I train more than I ever did in my career,” Tsitsipas told reporters ahead of his first match at the European Open in Antwerp, where he is the top seed.
“I don’t want to prove anything to anyone, except to myself, to prove to myself that I am capable of regaining my level. I believe in it.”
Tsitsipas is in Seville to support Badosa as she returns to the court and they have been enjoying some time away from the court, eating some Spanish churros in images posted on their Instagram page.
