Until the Iasi Open, Paula Badosa had never lost a WTA final. She had reached four, and if she made it that far into a tournament, it meant two things: She was going to take home the trophy, and, more importantly, she was healthy enough to keep playing.
Unfortunately, in Iasi, Romania, Badosa didn't win her final, and one reason was that she wasn't healthy enough to do so. To be fair to her opponent, Mayar Sherif, the Spaniard might have been outplayed as it was. It was obvious that Badosa wasn't using her injury as an excuse, though; she was clearly not 100 percent.
Sherif took the first set 6-4 and then led the second 4-0. As the proverbial writing was on the wall that Badosa was going to lose and her body was going to keep her from any attempt to come back, she simply retired. It was the correct move.
Paula Badosa breaks fans' hearts with honest message after latest loss
After the match, during the on-court ceremony to hand out the hardware to the winner and loser, the Spaniard, who saw her ranking rise to No. 90 in the live rankings due to her finals run, first gave credit to her opponent for playing a great match, but then apologized to the tennis fans watching.
Badosa said, "Hello everyone. First of all, I want to congratulate Mayar; she’s a great fighter...I’m always a player that’s very honest and real. I have to say I hate this moment right now; I hate losing a final, and I’m really sorry that I had to do it in this way, but I couldn’t keep up with my body, so I apologize for that also."
Of course, Badosa doesn't have any reason to apologize for something she cannot control. It was nice of her to do so, but she doesn't owe fans that. No one is more frustrated with the Spaniard's litany of injuries than the player herself. She likely would have been a constant in the top 10 of the WTA tour without so many injuries.
Ironically, she likely didn't feel much better knowing that ex-boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas, someone who has had his own injuries and a dip in form, won his most recent tournament on Sunday. He played well enough to win the event, of course, but without an injury (one that appears to have been to her leg), maybe Paula Badosa would have won the Iasi Open.
She is next scheduled to play at the Hamburg Open this week. Fans will certainly want to keep an eye on whether she can participate or not. Hopefully, the injury is nothing that will keep her out of the North American hardcourt season that begins at the end of July.
