‘Rafael Nadal makes people emotional through tennis’: Paula Badosa
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Rafael Nadal and Paul Badosa
2021 has not been Rafael Nadal’s year. Struggling with niggling injuries, he hasn’t been at his best even when he has been on the pitch. Failing to win any grand slam this year, he was knocked out of his favourite French Open by rival Novak Djokovic.
Nadal’s year start started with an injury, as he missed the ATP Cup with a lower back injury despite being scheduled to participate. In the Australian Open, Nadal lost to Greek Stefano’s Tsisipas in the quarter-finals despite being two sets up, the first time that has happened in his career. Post that, he withdrew from the Miami Open with injury.
The Monte-Carlo Masters saw the beginning of his beloved clay season. He lost in the tournament to Andrey Rublev. He made a comeback at the Barcelona Open, where he saved a match point to win the final against Stefanos Tsitipas, winning his record-extending 12th title at the event. In the subsequent events, he lost in Madrid but won the Italian Open, again defeating rival Novak Djokovic in the summit clash.
He entered the French Open as heavy favorites, and after wins over Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman, he eventually lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals in four sets, which was only his 3rd ever loss in the history of the event.
He subsequently withdrew from the Wimbledon and the entire Harcourt season, ending his season early on 20th August citing his recurring foot injury as the reason.
High praise for Nadal
Paula Badosa, the women’s world number 8, recently admitted that like all other Spaniards, she is a huge fan of Nadal. She shared an anecdote in an interview with El Laguero about her first meeting with Nadal when she was 13-14 years old . She joked that she wasn’t going to wash her hands after meeting Nadal. “Rafa has one thing that, for me, makes him unique: he is able to move people by playing tennis,” she said.
The Spaniard went on to reveal that according to her what makes Nadal unique from other tennis legends is his ability to love people and make them emotional through tennis alone. The world number 8 went on to reveal that she was quite intimidated by Nadal, whom she considers her “idol”, during her earlier tournaments, and was quite shy around him. “I have always said that he (Nadal) is my idol and for five years I have begun to coincide more with him,” she said.
Paula Badosa has enjoyed a very successful 2021, where she has risen to a career-high ranking of 8, having won the Indiana Wells. The 24-year-old also qualified for the WTA finals for the first time in her career. The Spaniard, who is an aggressive baseliner with a powerful serve, also reached the French Open Quarter Finals, where she was defeated by Tamara Zidansek.
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Akash Mandal
(433 Articles Published)