Spain’s Paula Badosa faces a race against time to be fully fit for the Australian Open after she was forced to withdraw from her semi-final match at the Adelaide International on Friday.
The world No.11 was scheduled to take on Russia’s Daria Kasatkina but decided to pull out as a precautionary measure due to a thigh injury. Badosa said she felt she pulled a muscle during her last match against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia which she won 7-6(5), 7-5, after two-and-a-half hours of play. Earlier in the tournament, she also defeated Kaia Kanepi and Anett Kontaveit.
“I think I was playing very good tennis, high level,” Badosa said. “I played three really good matches. I think that helps me, as well, on my confidence for the tournaments ahead. Now it’s something that I cannot control, so it is what it is.”
“Today I feel a little bit worse, so yeah, I have the Australian Open ahead, and I hope I can recover for that,” she added.
The 25-year-old has a fair amount of points to defend at Melbourne Park after reaching the fourth round 12 months ago in what was her best-ever performance at the tournament. Badosa, who has been ranked as high as No.2 in the world, has only reached the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam once before, which was at the 2021 French Open.
Badosa is the latest in a series of players to suffer an injury issue just days before the start of the Australian Open. Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu is recovering from an ankle injury that she sustained in New Zealand at the ASB Classic. Novak Djokovic has been hindered by a problem with his hamstring. Finally, Diego Schwartzman is currently dealing with an abductor issue. All of these players are still set to play in the first Grand Slam of 2023.
There have also been some high-profile withdrawals due to physical issues with men’s world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz pulling out due to a hamstring problem. Also out is Marin Cilic due to a knee injury and Venus Williams with an undisclosed injury.
The Australian Open main draw will get underway on Monday. Badosa, who is seeded 11th, will begin her campaign against Caty McNally.
