MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 27, 2023

Paula Badosa

Press Conference

P. BADOSA/E. Cocciaretto

6-3, 4-6, 6-4

(Interview in Spanish.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. I noticed you mentioned the nerves in Spanish. Is it easier for you to play in Stuttgart, for example, than it is here?

PAULA BADOSA: Yes (smiling).

Q. I do want to have a word as well about Coco. What's the plan? Just tell us about the nerves here and how you can't play your best here, and then let us know what the plan is for Saturday.

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, it's much easier to play anywhere else than here, but it's something that I already try to be prepared.

Well, maybe I didn't play my best the last years, but one of the years I played really well here. I could adapt myself and my game and everything. I hope this year can be the same. But, yeah, it's always a challenge to play here in Madrid.

Against Coco, we played a few times. Yeah, big server, aggressive, very good backhand, one of the best backhands in the world. She's very physical, but I think it's a very tactical match. She plays good on clay. She did French Open final last year.

But I like these kind of matches. I know it's a challenge, and I'm really looking forward to play against her as well with my home crowd.

Q. So you said "tactical." What could be the tactic?

PAULA BADOSA: Well, I'm not gonna say, because maybe she's gonna see this and it doesn't make sense (smiling).

But try to be aggressive, try to play my game, and let's keep the rest for me and I will tell you Saturday after the match.

Q. Paula, can you just talk through the match today just in terms of, yeah, how you saw that match and especially towards the end what it took from you to be able to get the win?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah. It was a roller-coaster match, to be honest. I started very well. I think it was under control. In the second set as well. I got very nervous in one second. I wasn't feeling very well. It was very hot as well.

Yeah, the match changed in five minutes. Then the third set I think she played very well. She was serving well. It's complicated, the conditions here, because I feel the ball flies very fast.

Yeah, well, I started to cramp a little bit as well. But as I said, I just fight until the last moment. That's always my identity. I'm happy that I could get that win.

Q. Just looking ahead to Coco, will it help at all -- I know playing in Madrid is a different challenge, but going in as the underdog, as the player who is the lower-ranked player, a lot of times, especially the last few times you have stepped on court, you have been the higher-ranked player, will that ease a little bit of it, you think?

PAULA BADOSA: Maybe. I don't know. It depends as well. These kind of matches, my opinion, is always depends of the day of that player, because it's already very high-level matches. Maybe I hope she doesn't serve that well. I hope I serve very well. It's small details these kind of matches.

Yeah, let's see how it goes. Let's see how I face it as well playing at home and if I can control as well the nerves and everything.

Yeah, it's going to be a challenge.