“Leylah Fernandez makes us uncomfortable” Paula Badosa full of praise for the Canadian after beating her in the 4th round of the Indian Wells Open
Follow Us
Paula Badosa and Leylah Fernandez
Defending champion Paula Badosa continues her run at the 2022 Indian Wells Open as she defeats Canadian youngster Leylah Fernandez to move into the quarter-finals. In what was a fantastic match between the two players, it was Badosa who came out on top with a 6-4, 6-4 win after a fight of 1 hour and 42 minutes.
It was a disciplined performance by Leylah in terms of her service hitting 2 aces and making 2 double faults while Badosa hit 4 aces making 7 double faults. Paula won the match with 80 points to her name while Leylah finished with 67 points in a very close match that was decided by fine margins as Paula’s experience saw her save 5/6 breakpoints and converting 3/12 breakpoints while Leylah saved 9/12 and could convert only 1/6 breakpoints.
“I think she’s very smart. Very intense. Very good timing. I think she has an amazing timing, how she takes the ball very soon. She opens angles. So she does a little bit of everything. She’s lefty, so sometimes that’s uncomfortable for us. Yes, she has a very good game. The thing I like most about Leylah, she has the same attitude no matter what. That’s very important if you want to be a very good player,” said Badosa heaping praise on the young Canadian who is looking a better player with every passing tournament.
Paula Badosa credits her team for her success
Badosa has seen a meteoric rise since the last season. Having broken into the Top-100 in 2019, it was from the 2021 season that Paula’s real talent came ahead. Winning her maiden WTA title a the 2021 Serbia Open, she broke into the Top-40 and ended the year with a WTA-1000 title at the Indian Wells, making a semi-final run at the WTA Finals having made her Top-10 debut in November last year.
“I tried to think positive and I want to think that maybe that helped me to be the person that I am now. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I want to think like that. I think that maybe made me stronger. I want to think like that. Let’s not think negative. It took me years. I was suffering. I was suffering a lot. I wasn’t lucky maybe with people I had by my side at that moment, as well. It was a lot of things were not going well at that moment. I don’t know”
“I think the experience helped me on that. Now I think I have the perfect team, the perfect people by my side. I just see how they treat me, how they treat me as well when things are not going well. That’s where I most see the people, how they are. I think I have an amazing coach, an amazing team by my side. They support me no matter what. That’s very important for me in this tough sport,” said Paula about her rise and how the atmosphere in her camp has made things better for her.
Paula will now take on Veronika Kudermetova in the quarter-finals in her bid to defend her title for which she looked flawless so far having not lost a set in the 4 matches she has played in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Stay Updated!
Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)