AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2025

Paula Badosa

Press Conference

P. BADOSA/C. Gauff

7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Paula, congratulations on reaching your first Grand Slam semifinal. What are some of the overriding emotions you are feeling at the moment?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, I'm really happy to be in the semifinals for the first time. Last slam was very tough for me, losing in the quarterfinals, but I think I learned from that. Finally, today I think I played a great match against Coco.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You mentioned on court what you've been through and how close you were. You weren't sure whether you might have to retire or not. How close did you come to retiring because of the back problem?

PAULA BADOSA: Well, it was one point of last year that I was pretty close because I wasn't seeing myself at the level. The back wasn't responding well. I didn't find solutions. But I wanted to keep it a last try, a last chance to finish the year and let's see how it would go.

Well, here I am. So I'm really proud of what we went through with all my team and especially how I fighted through all that, especially mentally.

Q. For those of us that don't speak Spanish, what did you write on the lens, and what did it mean?

PAULA BADOSA: That third time lucky one. Does that make sense? Because it was my third quarterfinals, and I don't know. The last two were, like, I didn't leave with a good feeling, so today I didn't want to do that. Even though win or lose, I wanted to go for it and be aggressive and play my game and don't have regrets. That's was my plan since the first minute I stepped on the court.

Q. Well done, Paula. Now that you're through this quarterfinal hump, do you anticipate sort of approaching the semifinals with a kind of freedom or not having that because you're not having that in your mind? I know you haven't been to a semifinals at a Grand Slam, but maybe can you reflect on when you've gone deep in other tournaments how it's affected you.

PAULA BADOSA: I'm never going to feel freedom until I win the tournament. I'm always like this. It's my personality. It's my character.

Today, of course, maybe I had a little bit less expectations, but I still had pressure because I wanted to win so badly.

I will step on the court in the semifinals, I don't care against who, and I will want to win so badly. That's part of me.

I think when I'm in the final round, my level raises, and I just want to give my 100% there and leave it all on the court.

Q. How have your difficulties, I guess, over the last three years changed you as a person and made you a better player?

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, I think it changed me, especially to appreciate more the moments. As you see, when I win a match like this, I try to, like, soak it all in. Also, I get emotional because it means a lot for me.

I go through a lot. Especially emotionally I wanted it so much. Also, I try to enjoy it after. So, yeah, I think I learned to value a little bit more the moments.

Today I was trying to, even though that the level was very high and tough and, of course, there was nerves, I was trying to look up and see the crowd and everything and to appreciate it and to enjoy that moment, because we train for that. I think it was a beautiful moment.

Q. When you were serving for it at 5-2 and 5-4, you talked about trying to stay present and the challenge of doing that. How were you able to do that certainly the second time around?

PAULA BADOSA: Look, the last two times I played against her, and of course it was on my mind, I was a set and a break up. The last two times she brought her level very high, even better when she was down. So I was quite expecting that from her side, especially in the 5-2, because I didn't do anything wrong. She just played unreal.

5-2 I was a little bit nervous. But the 5-4 up I tried to stay calm and to focus a little bit on my serve. I know she didn't break me much. Just two times in the match. I'm, like, if you serve well, you're going to have your chances here. Just try to focus on yourself, toss the ball correctly, like do all the techniques, routines we have.

That's what I did. I stopped thinking a little bit of Coco and the match and the entire atmosphere, and I was with myself.

I think I served really, really well there.

Q. Obviously we don't know who you're going to play next, of course, but if you could just talk about the specific threats that first Aryna and Anastasia pose on court, and how you feel your game matches up against them.

PAULA BADOSA: Yeah, against Aryna, she's showing why she's the No. 1 in the world right now. She's being very consistent, very aggressive. Very intense player. She's always a really tough one to face.

I faced her last year, but I think I wasn't in the form I am in now. If it's Aryna, I'm really looking forward for that match.

Of course, Anastasia, I played against her also here last year and in Cincinnati. A very talented player with big shots. Yeah, I think also it would be another battle. In the semifinals you cannot expect an easy match.

Q. Paula, could you explain a little bit about what exactly was the problem with your back? Also, what time of year was it last year that you had these thoughts about I might need to stop playing?

PAULA BADOSA: Well, it was a stress fracture in my L4/L5 that wasn't recovering well. Then the facet joints that were inflamed all the time. Every time I was doing exercises, I had to stop because it wasn't responding well.

When I thought about stopping was when I was doing the injections because they told me I had to do max three a year, and I was already on my second one. It was the fourth month of the year. I was quite playing like in the limit with that also.

So I think especially it was in the clay court season. It was pretty bad for me and also the back was still hurting. So in that moment I really didn't know what to do.

Yeah, I think also especially after in my home tournament in Madrid it was very tough for me. A mix of back, mentally, and everything. That moment I was thinking maybe I'm not made for being back again. Yeah, I was doubting a lot.

Q. Since when have you felt okay?

PAULA BADOSA: Well, especially there after Madrid I did a few changes in my team. That was my fitness coach, my nutritionist, and everything that was connected a little bit with my back.

I went with a new team that I really believed because I worked with them in 2021, and it went really well. And, of course, they know my body. They gave me a few different tips that I wasn't having in that moment. With that and when you have faith in something, in a team, I think things start working, start working really well.

My back started to respond really well with the exercises they were telling me, with the food I had to eat, with the supplements I had to take. Also, new doctors. So all that, the puzzle started to look better. I started to play more matches, more matches.

I was at the beginning scared like how I'm going to wake up the next day. It was okay. It was okay since today.

Q. I wanted to ask two questions. First of all, you mentioned that you used to have to take cortisone injections for your back. I wanted to know where you're at with that at the moment? Secondly, you're a former world No. 2. Does getting to the semifinals here at a Grand Slam, do you feel like you're where you belong now?

PAULA BADOSA: The first one, the last one was already last year in the clay court season. I didn't need to take more, so that's a good news because it was pretty bad. My body wasn't responding well either with that injections. Yeah, that finished.

And do I feel if I'm back where I belong? Yeah, of course. I mean, since I came back last year here in Australia, my goal, I said it here last January, I wanted to be the comeback of the year. I achieved that.

When I started this year, I also said I want to be one of the best players in the world and prove that, show that, and be consistent. That's my goal for this year also.

Q. If it is Aryna, obviously you're very close and you have played in other matches. At a Grand Slam this would be a whole other level. Obviously you're not going to not be friends, but will you message about it? How will you kind of deal with the fact that you'll be then playing your very good friend?

PAULA BADOSA: We deal with it pretty normal. Plenty of times we had messages before the match. It's pretty chill. We know how to separate things very well. We spoke about it so many times.

We admire, respect each other. It's going to be a battle inside the court, of course, but outside it's super normal.

Q. You've now had sustained consistency for about six months or so, week in, week out. How different does this level of consistency feel like 2021, 2022 when you hit No. 2 in the world and all that, how different does it feel?

PAULA BADOSA: I think it's really different because when I was No. 2 in the world, everything came very fast. Maybe I wasn't managing well the expectations in that moment. I was very scared when I was playing a player that was maybe, of course, lower ranked than me.

So I was, like, Oh, what's going to happen if I'm going to lose? What are they going to say? I was thinking too much about that.

Now I don't mind because I can accept, and you can see now the level. You can lose against anybody. You can win against anybody.

I think that helped me, like, play more free. When I play more free, I think I play a good tennis, and that's when it becomes more consistent, you know.

Also, accepting when I'm in a match the good moments from the opponent and trying to, like, deal with it, trying to find solutions. So I think at the end it resumes that I'm more mature.