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Paula Badosa during her match against Sabalenka EFE
Badosa Falls to Unstoppable Sabalenka

Badosa Falls to Unstoppable Sabalenka

World's Top Player Leaves No Chance for Badosa, Reaches Third Consecutive Final in Australia

Enric Gardiner

Jueves, 23 de enero 2025, 11:45

Paula Badosa leaves Australia with her head held high. In her first Grand Slam semi-final, the Spaniard was defeated by the unstoppable Aryna Sabalenka (6-4, 6-2), the world's top player, who will play her third consecutive final in Australia this Saturday.

There was little Badosa could do against the Belarusian powerhouse, apart from holding her own and leaving proud of her best Grand Slam performance. Having broken the quarter-final barrier that stopped her at Roland Garros 2021 and the last US Open, Badosa faced a friend, but also the current number one and absolute queen of the hard courts. The Belarusian has played the last five Grand Slam finals on this surface, winning three of them, as she awaits her match against Madison Keys or Iga Swiatek this Saturday.

Badosa dreamed of being the title contender when she started the match strong, leading 2-0 and 40-0. It was a promising start, but Sabalenka entered the match to quash any opportunity.

She overturned that 40-0 and won six of the next eight games, including the 3-2 game that lasted over ten minutes, with four break points and two chances for Badosa to stop the bleeding.

But it was Sabalenka, with her winning shots from the baseline (finishing the match with 32 winners), who turned the match around, aided by the closed roof of the Rod Laver Arena, which amplified the power and speed of her shots. Badosa played well, with little to reproach herself, but at this level, competing with Sabalenka is impossible.

Sabalenka's Strength on Hard Courts

The Spaniard, who suffered a harmless fall at the start of the second set, did not lose her smile, but Sabalenka gave no chance. She won the second set in half an hour, without conceding a break point and losing only five points on serve.

She is a bulldozer that crushes opponents on hard courts. She won in Australia in 2023 and 2024, at the US Open in 2024, and now aims for her fourth Grand Slam and to be the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997, 1998, and 1999 to win the Australian Open three times consecutively. She would join an exclusive group of triple winners that includes Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Evonne Goolagong, and Margaret Court.

"Paula will hate me for the next few hours or days, but then we'll be friends again," Sabalenka assured, as the Spaniard reached the locker room visibly upset and sat among the encouragement of her coach, Pol Toledo.

Badosa's semi-final run in Melbourne allows her to climb four places in the rankings, reaching ninth in the world. She is among the top ten in the WTA rankings for the first time in nearly three years.

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todoalicante Badosa Falls to Unstoppable Sabalenka