Paula Badosa Classy Message To Zhang Shuai
A Spanish professional tennis player born on 15 November, 1997 in Manhattan to Spanish parents Mirela Gilbert Baró and Josep Badosa Codolar. Paula Badosa has been ranked as world number 2 in singles by WTA and number 124 in the doubles. In 2021, Paula won the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells which is her biggest career success till date.
Zhang Shuai on the other hand is a Chinese professional tennis player who has attained doubles rank No.2 in July 2022 and singles ranking No.22 in January 2023.
Paula Badosa Message To Zhang Shuai
Paula Badosa had a beautiful message for Shuai Zhang after beating her in the quarter final of the China Open in Beijing and earning herself a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory on Thursday. Paula Badosa broke Zhang three times in a one-side opening set, before recovering from 1-3 down to take the second set on a tiebreak.
“First, I want to say some words to Shuai. She is amazing as a person and you could see the level today, also I’m really happy for her because I knew she went through a very tough time but It shows how much of a fighter she is.
She’s great, her team is great, she’s always smiling, even supporting me during the tour so it’s great to have a tennis player like her.”
Paula Badosa further mentioned she urged Shuai not to call tennis a quit after ending her tough run. She added: “And what I told her on the net, that she shouldn’t retire because her level is really, really high.”
35 year old Zhang Shuai who has been the story of the week, entered the China Open on a 24-match losing streak which is the second longest in the Open Era and ranked No. 595. She didn’t drop a set in four matches this week.
Zhang Shuai already appears to have given up on her plans to stop playing tennis after her heroics this week, though she was considering it at the start of the tournament. With her fellow players including Badosa encouraging her not to give up, Zhang said: “Before my plan was to play more doubles, focus on doubles. “But now I think I have to change the plan. Paula told me I have to play. Don’t retire.”
“After the losing streak I was asking myself as well as my team and my coach if I want to continue my professional career. Should I continue as a doubles player? I did not want that.”
Badosa has climbed from 19th to 15th in the live WTA Rankings as a result of her run, where she will face either Coco Gauff or Yulia Starodubtseva. She reached a career-high ranking of world No 2 in April 2022.
