INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 8, 2022

Paula Badosa

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Paula, can you start off and tell us how it feels to be in Rome.

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, it's nice to be here. It's my first time in this tournament. I know it sounds funny, but it's like that. I'm really enjoying a lot.

It's my second day here practicing. I really like the venue, the people, the atmosphere, the energy. So, yeah, I can't wait to start here the tournament.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Why you never played before in Rome?

PAULA BADOSA: My record was so bad, I couldn't enter this tournament (smiling).

Last year I could play quallies. I did well in Madrid, so I couldn't fly here. Yeah, I was very sad because I was really looking forward to come.

The other years, I was too bad (laughter).

Q. Does that put in perspective for you just how crazy your rise has been, to be here the first time, you're the No. 2 seed?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, it's a little bit surreal to think all this last year what's happening. Yeah, so that's why sometimes mentally it's a process to accept all these kind of things, to learn how to deal with the pressure as well.

Yeah, well, I think I'm learning. I'm proud of how I'm doing this year, yeah. It's a little bit crazy.

Q. Tough match for you in Madrid. How did you work to kind of regroup and reset after that loss?

PAULA BADOSA: To be honest, it was very tough for me that tournament since the beginning. As I said at the last press conference when I lost to Simona, it felt like I played five tournaments, a lot of stress, a lot of pressure.

Starting a tournament with that tough draw, hearing all the time that you're the favorite to win that tournament, it's a little bit as well tough.

Yeah, but I think I'm playing well. I'm coming with a lot of matches. Maybe Madrid wasn't the best tournament for me, but I think Simona played amazing that day. She played like her best tennis of her career. Credit is to her. I have to accept that.

After that, I needed to rest a few days because it was tough and I had bad days, to be honest, there. Then I came back at court. Since then I'm feeling very well and I work very hard.

Q. I'm writing about tennis balls. I'm curious, what's the most difficult thing about playing with different balls each week, each tournament?

PAULA BADOSA: You went to the perfect player to ask this (smiling).

It's something we're talking about between a lot of players, to be honest. A lot of the top-five players are not happy about that because - I'm going to talk about me.

I'm not happy about that, that every tournament or almost every tournament we're having this change of balls. I think it's tough. I don't know.

I can read and I can hear sometimes that they're complaining about WTA that anyone can win. But if they change the conditions every time, it's normal, and anyone can win.

Yeah, it's something we're talking already with WTA and trying to find the solution on that because I think the best way is to have more control on that, try to play as much tournaments as possible with the same conditions.

Q. What specifically is tough about it?

PAULA BADOSA: About the balls?

Q. Yes.

PAULA BADOSA: I mean, of course, every tournament there are different conditions. You're traveling to a different country. Some tournaments are with altitude, some with sea level. It's already different.

But if you do it changing the balls, it's tough for us. Yeah, you have to keep changing your game and adapting yourself on the conditions. So I think the best way is to find a solution on that and maybe not changing.

I remember in the same swing changing the ball. At least if we can continue in every swing having the same type of balls, that would be better for us and even for the fans and for the show.

Q. Back to this being your Rome debut as the No. 2 seed. Is it reminiscent of what Emma Raducanu is doing? You said it was surreal. Can you expand on that? What is your mindset?

PAULA BADOSA: I don't know if you ask me -- I didn't understand a lot the question, to be honest. But if you ask me about Emma, what she's dealing through, her expectations?

I mean, it's very tough. It's like the same I'm going to talk about Alcaraz. They're teenagers and they just did amazing things on tennis. You know that so much pressure, so much expectation on them. They're too young to learn how to deal with all that. I think they need time.

Not only I'm going to talk about her, it's same in my case. We need time to process all these crazy things that happens. Sometimes when it happens like that fast, you need the process.

Yeah, I think the most important is that they stay calm, they stay with their team, they work hard, and don't think about what they're talking about and don't listen too much because it's painful.

Q. You've spoken about being very negative on court earlier in your career. You said you didn't always have the fight. What was the process like to get rid of the negativity and discover the fight? Was it one moment or a long process?

PAULA BADOSA: It was a process. I was super negative on myself. I remember it was tough for me. I was getting frustrated very fast because I really wanted to win so badly, so my mental game was weak in that moment. So, yeah, it was a process, me getting older, mature.

One day I sat down and I was watching myself, and I didn't like what I was seeing. I decided that no matter what, I was going to try to fight every point, even if I feel well or bad on court.

Yeah, it's one of the things that I think I changed the most last year, what gave me a lot of matches last year, that big change.

I think this year I'm doing quite the same. Of course, if I have these kind of matches like you play against Simona, that she played amazing, had a lot of these matches this year that the opponent played so good, I just have to go home and work harder.

Q. One of your friends, Sara Sorribes Tormo, had a great tournament in Madrid. You played against her in Indian Wells. Watching her, it seems like it would be miserable to play against her with how she plays, especially on clay. Can you describe what it's like facing her?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, I mean, Sara, she's very, very tough. She plays different. She plays different as most players. I think she has a different game. When she has different game, you have to adapt yourself. You cannot play the same game as you play against another one because the ball doesn't come the same way.

Yeah, I think maybe that's the thing what happens to these kind of hitters, they want to play their game no matter what. Against Sara doesn't work like that because she loves it. Of course, I know her very much. When I play against her, I have to adapt myself because it's a different game as I normally play against.

She did very well there. After I finish my match in Indian Wells, the first thing I said in press conference, if she plays like this match, she can be top 20, top 30 a lot of years because she has physically, she has mental game, she has attitude, she has the fight, and she has a different game. This game gives you a lot of matches.

Yeah, I'm happy for her and for sure we'll see her in this kind of rankings a lot of years.

Q. You talked about how your game has changed on court. Has your success changed you at all? Your circumstances are completely different to, say, 18 months ago.

PAULA BADOSA: I didn't understand, sorry.

Q. Has your success changed you as a person at all off the court?

PAULA BADOSA: No, I'm the same, I think so. I will have to ask this to my friends or to my family. But I think I'm the same or even more humble because one day you're on the top and next day you can be outside the top hundred. You never know.

I think the key to stay where I am or to stay as much better ranking as I can is to stay humble and to work very hard. I think if I play very good on this sport, I'm not better than anyone, you know. I didn't save a life. I'm not a super hero. I'm just playing good on my job. I'm doing my job well, you know?

I don't have to change for that.