Paula Badosa sends cryptic message amid injury concerns as Indian Wells participation remains uncertain

Paula Badosa sparked concern with a cryptic message as questions linger over her participation in Indian Wells. The Spanish tennis star recently suffered a back injury during a match in Mexico, leaving her status for the tournament uncertain.

Badosa’s run at the 2025 Mérida Open Akron came to an unfortunate end after she was forced to retire mid-match due to a back issue. The Spaniard started strong in her quarterfinal clash against Australia’s Daria Saville, dominating the first set 6-1. However, as the match progressed, her injury worsened, ultimately forcing her to withdraw, handing Saville the victory on Saturday, March 1.

Badosa had a packed February, competing in four different tournaments. However, she experienced early exits at both the Abu Dhabi Open and the Qatar Open. After a tough loss to Elena Rybakina at the Dubai Tennis Championships, she headed to the Mérida Open. Unfortunately, she had to retire from the WTA 500 event and later took to Instagram to explain the reason behind her withdrawal.

She played several tournaments in a row this year, but her chronic back injury kept troubling her repeatedly, even bringing her to the brink of retirement.

On March 3, the Spaniard took to X (formerly Twitter) to open up about self-reflection while recovering from her injury. She shared her thoughts straight from the heart. She wrote:

“We cannot offer the world what we cannot offer ourselves.The importance of looking inside. 💗Happy day, take care of yourselves 🫂” (translated from Spanish)

Badosa was set to play in the Indian Wells Open starting on March 3, but an injury seems to have derailed her plans.

Paula Badosa’s 2025 season so far

Paula Badosa| Image Source: Getty

Paula Badosa began her 2025 season at the Brisbane International, but luck wasn’t on her side as she suffered an early exit with a defeat to Elina Avanesyan. Her struggles continued at Adelaide International, where she was knocked out in the second round after losing to Ashlyn Krueger.

The Spaniard had an impressive run at the Australian Open. She started her campaign against Xinyu Wang and then powered through Talia Gibson, Marta Kostyuk, and Olga Danilovic to reach the quarterfinals, where she faced Coco Gauff. After an impressive victory over Gauff, she went up against Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals but ultimately fell to the Belarusian in straight sets.

In February, she competed in the Abu Dhabi Open but made an early exit after losing to Linda Noskova. Her run at the Qatar Open didn’t go as planned either, as she was eliminated from the tournament following a defeat to Amanda Anisimova.

Before withdrawing from the Merida Open due to a back injury, Badosa competed in the Dubai Tennis Championship, where she fought hard in the Round of 16 but ultimately fell to Elena Rybakina in a grueling three-set battle.