Paula Badosa will likely face extensive public pressure and media scrutiny due to her ongoing relationship with fellow tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas, according to former WTA player Monica Puig.
Badosa returned to action at the Adelaide International on Monday after six months out as she recovered from a recurring back injury sustained at Wimbledon last season. Things started well for the Spanish player in Adelaide as she took a first-set lead against qualifier Bernarda Pera before losing sets two and three.
It was a disappointing return for Badosa, who will be looking to regain some of the form that helped her climb to number two in the WTA rankings in 2022.
In addition, Puig, when speaking on the Tennis Channel, said that the 26-year-old is expected to face additional pressures away from tennis following her public relationship with Tsitsipas.
"She [Badosa] is always talking about her mental health and how much she has struggled with the pressure in dealing with all of that. She’s in the spotlight with her boyfriend and now there is a lot of criticism about tennis players and their personal lives as well. Dealing with that is very, very challenging."
Badosa will be desperate to put the initial disappointment in Adelaide behind her as she targets progress towards a first career Grand Slam. Moreover, Puig argues that the Spanish player has little on-court pressure for the time being as she tries to recapture previous top levels in her game.
"She took a lot of time off in 2023, sometimes when you do take time off, well, tennis evolves, players evolve, there’s a lot of things that are changing. So, she needs time to get back into the game, kind of see what things are going on, what wheels are turning for other players and work her from there."
"But right now, pressure is off, nobody is really expecting much from her so she has to kind of roll with the punches at the beginning of this year."
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