US OPEN

August 30, 2024

Paula Badosa

Press Conference

P. BADOSA/E. Ruse

4-6, 6-1, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Very successful first week. Very tough match. Came from behind. Take us through that tiebreaker.

PAULA BADOSA: The tiebreaker, really? I think I almost had a heart attack there. But yeah, it was really tough match. She was playing very high level.

I had to keep up there, so I'm really happy I accepted that moment. I fought through it. I think the tiebreak was -- you never know in a tiebreak, but I think I handled the emotions and the pressure pretty well, and I'm happy I won the match.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When we were speaking earlier in the year, and you spoke about a scary moment when you told me you can't play again, and now you're having all the success. I'm wondering, does the pressure feel the same, or has that experience helped you kind of appreciate tennis differently, approach things differently, or once you're on the court it's still, like, the win is everything?

PAULA BADOSA: It's a mix. It's a mix. There are some moments I can, like, appreciate it a bit more. Just sometimes I'm on the court, and I just look up. I'm, like, Whoa, this is beautiful.

Before I wasn't appreciating that moment that much. So in that it helped me.

Also, at the end of the day I'm so competitive. I just want to win, win, win, win and be in the last round. So sometimes I don't appreciate it that much, but still, I think I do it a little bit more than before my injury.

So it's nice, and especially maybe I think what changed also I connect more with the fans and with the crowd. Before maybe I was closing myself in a shell, and now I just try to find help from there.

I think we have a nice connection, and it's cool.

Q. You said you almost had a heart attack in the tiebreaker. How about earlier when you went on the seven-point run when you were down match point? How did you turn that around, and what was going through your mind?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, like exactly in that moment I think -- it's in that moment I looked up and saw the crowd cheering so much for me and pumping me up. I think there I was, like, having that connection with them, and it gave me so much strength in that moment.

So I just forgot everything, and I was just like, I'm going to go for my shots. I'm going to be aggressive. Because maybe I was struggling a little bit in that moment that I was feeling so much pressure that I needed to win this match, and maybe I was the one I had more expectations in this match compared to her.

I forgot a little bit of that, and I just focus on each point and playing tennis and just going for it no matter who was on the other side of the net.

It worked really well, and it gave me the 6-5 serve. But in that moment I think credit to her because she played really, really well, and she was returning very well.

Q. You spoke earlier about your new appreciation for things during your comeback. What was the low point for you, and how do you look back on it now when you're having so much fun?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, I mean, the low point for me was at the middle of the season. It was really bad. Coming from the injury in the beginning you never know what to expect.

At the beginning of the season I was okay, but after all seeing that I was struggling also with my back, it wasn't responding well. My results weren't what I was expecting in that moment. So it was really bad.

There was moments, especially after Madrid, that I didn't know what to do. In my mind I was thinking, like, maybe I should quit because if I'm not in the highest level, I don't want to play this sport. I don't want to be in the ranking I was in that moment. For me it doesn't make sense.

That's how I am as my personality. So if I'm not on the top or in the best players in the world, I don't want to play this sport.

In that moment I was playing really bad, and I wasn't finding the solution, but I had no other option than to be with my team, stick with them, trust the process as we say. I think the process was good. I was working well, but I just needed time and patience.

Also, I needed my back to respond. It came all after I think after the clay court season, before the grass. I started to feel better. You know, you slowly win matches. You start to believe in yourself.

The most important, that my back was responding really well. After that I think I lost very close matches there, but the level was there. Well, finally here in the U.S. swing I could prove it. I think all my work paid off.

I spoke so much now I'm tired.

Q. You spoke the other day about how stressful it is watching when Stef is playing and especially tight matches. I just wondered if you have spoken to him about how he found watching that match today because he probably nearly had a heart attack as well.

PAULA BADOSA: He came running to me, and he is, like, I almost had a heart attack. Also, when I was playing, I don't know when, it was 6-All, it came to my mind. I was, like, Stef for sure is having a heart attack right now (laughing).

Also my family at home. It sometimes crosses my mind. I'm, like, Paula, stay here now. It's a tough moment.

Yeah, of course, I think from the outside it's so tough to watch, but even like my team when they're watching it on the court, I know they're suffering so much. So sometimes I don't want to look there either because I know they're having a heart attack.

It is how it is, so I'm sorry for them.

Q. Is he on court, Stef?

PAULA BADOSA: No, he wasn't. He was resting a bit because on there he has even more heart attack, so it's better to be -- yeah.

Q. When players come back from injury, they often talk about getting back to their best. This is a result that's in some ways better than something you were able to do before. What does it mean for you to be able to achieve a new milestone in this new phase of your career in a city that means so much to you?

PAULA BADOSA: It means so much, and after what I've been through the last year, for me it's very special to already be on this level.

I said it I think in the last interviews, but at the beginning of the year I was obsessed. I wanted to do the comeback of the year, like no matter what. I was looking at that -- all this. I'm like, I need to do this no matter what.

So I think I'm in a good moment now, and I'm very happy that I can prove all this again and that I'm playing maybe at one of the best level of my career. I'm back at the top. For me it means a lot because it's where I want to be.

Q. You're actually in possible contention for the WTA Finals.

PAULA BADOSA: Don't start with this because then I start to look at the ranking, and I don't want to.

Q. I won't tell you where you are, because I checked before coming. I'm wondering how big of a goal is it for you considering you've already been there before in this time of your career? I'm wondering also if you have had any conversations with the other girls about how important it is for this finals to be successful in Riyadh given the instability in this event the last few years?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, unfortunately, I haven't been in the last few years, but I know they weren't happy. Hopefully this one is going to be great.

It wasn't a goal. The goal was to do a comeback, but not that good comeback, you know? Maybe now it becomes a goal, but I don't really want to think about it because I think I'm dealing with the expectations and the pressure pretty well.

I still have tournaments, of course. It's going to be there, but I don't want to think about that because for the moment I want to go step by step.