Paula Badosa has been managing a back issue for a while, and she spoke openly about it in a recent interview.
A few years ago, the Spanish player was number two in the WTA Rankings and playing at the WTA Finals. She was a young and up-and-coming player, seemingly destined for great success in the future, but it didn't work out that way.
Actually, the WTA Finals that year featured Badosa taking on compatriot Garbine Muguruza in the semi-final. Muguruza won that match and subsequently won the trophy, and now she's retired.
Badosa is far from the Top 10 and doesn't look likely to ever return there, not because of her level of tennis, but because of her back injury. She made the shocking admission recently that the nature of her injury si chronic.
The problem will not go away, and she'll have to manage it for the rest of her career, which won't last as long as she had hoped. It was a bitter pill for Badosa to swallow, but she's getting better at managing it, which has allowed her to play more recently.
"I am going to be totally honest, my back has to respond. Like after these four matches I feel sometimes the pain it's not great but especially I want to have matches like yesterday, even though they are emotional or they are tough but this is what I live for."
The new reality is very difficult for Badosa to accept, but she has no other choice. In her ideal world, she would be out there every other day competing against the best players, but it doesn't seem as likely anymore. She's still going to give her all to achieve that.
"I want to play as many matches as possible against the top players. And I am not gonna lie, I mean I have this personality that is always going to be like this I want to be back to the best players in the world that's why I play tennis for and I don't want to be where I am right now, honestly. I want to be more than that so of course keep enjoying competing but trying to win as many matches as possible and to be at the top."
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