Paula Badosa reveals she admired Maria Sharapova’s tennis quite a bit when rising up however admits she completely wasn’t able to be labeled the following Sharapova.
Throughout her junior profession, the Spaniard achieved some fairly good issues, with probably the most notable one being her 2015 French Open ladies’ singles title.
On account of her top but in addition a terrific predisposition to have an enormous sport and be a really profitable big-hitter, it did not take lengthy earlier than the 2015 French Open junior champion began being in comparison with the previous world No. 1.
“Sure, she was once I grew up and as I stated, it’s not all the sport that she was enjoying, it was what she was going like above tennis,” Badosa informed Caroline Garcia throughout her look on the Frenchwoman’s Tennis Insider Membership podcast.
“She had a unique mindset of being an athlete however greater than that. In order that’s one thing that I actually preferred about her and was very inspiring.”
Badosa: I used to be shedding whereas folks anticipated me to be the following Sharapova
After a profitable junior profession, the present four-time WTA champion did not have a straightforward transition to the professional circuit.
And people huge expectations and stress performed a job.
All of it resulted in Badosa falling into a really darkish place and battling melancholy and nervousness as a result of her professional profession wasn’t progressing as anticipated or focused.
“I went via melancholy and I had psychological well being issues. As a result of I used to be 18, I used to be an excellent junior, however then the step of going to the professional was not simple,” the 27-year-old added.
“You begin shedding, and other people count on you to be the following Sharapova. They questioned why I wasn’t within the High 10 but, however I wasn’t even within the High 100 at that second.
“The expectations have been tremendous excessive, however my stage and psychological capability weren’t prepared for that.”
Fortuitously, Badosa was in a position to overcome these points and make a pleasant profession for herself.
Now, she is a WTA 1000 champion – not too long ago made her first Grand Slam semifinal on the Australian Open – and has been ranked as excessive as No. 2 on the planet.
Additionally, she is the top-ranked Spanish feminine tennis participant together with her present rating of No. 10.