Paula Badosa opens up about her ranking drop from World No. 2 and managing expectations

World No. 33 Paula Badosa reflected on her drop in the WTA rankings over the past 12 months and how she is trying to look past that to enjoy the tennis she plays. While the Spaniard was reluctant to speak about her ranking, she revealed that she is learning from the past whilst managing the expectations of being a top-ranked player.

Badosa reached a career-high ranking of World No. 2 in April last year. However, the Spaniard now lies outside the top 30 owing to some unexpected early exits in coveted tournaments.

She is currently participating at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she caused an upset on Tuesday by defeating seventh-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-1 in the Round of 32. During the post-match press conference, Badosa spoke about her strong win against the Russian, her positive mentality and how dropping in the rankings has affected her.

The Spanish star was asked whether her impressive win was a sign of a new chapter considering a year ago she was ranked No. 2 in the world. Paula Badosa responded that she wanted to enjoy her tennis foremost, while at the same time admitting that managing expectations and maintaining rankings was tough for her to handle.

The 25-year-old, however, hopes to learn from the past and do better in the coming days.

"To be honest, I don't want to think a lot about how I was one year ago. I know I was World No. 2, but then, well, expectations and everything were tough to handle. I don't want to think about that," Badosa admitted.

"I just want to think about it that I have that level and just to work every day, to try to enjoy every day, to enjoy the journey and I hope I can be back there soon. And when I'm back soon there, I hope I can learn from the past and from this last year. Yeah, a little bit that," Badosa stated.

Paula Badosa to face Cristina Bucsa in the Stuttgart Open third round

Paula Badosa at the 2022 Credit One Charleston Open - Day 4

Paula Badosa is through to the second round of the 2023 Stuttgart Open after her strong win over Russia's Daria Kasatkina in the Round of 32, where she will now face compatriot Cristina Bucsa. Busca, who came through the qualifiers and defeated German Tamara Korpatsch in the first round in three sets, will face Badosa for the third time in her career.

Paula Badosa leads 2-0 in the head-to-head. The pair last clashed in the semifinals at the W60 Les Franqueses Del Valles in 2019 where Badosa won in straight sets 6-4, 7-5. Their first meeting was in the second round of the J60 Lleida Tennis Tournament on the ITF circuit, where Badosa prevailed 6-4, 6-2.