Paula Badosa produced a brilliant upset against Jil Teichmann on Saturday in the Manolo Santana Stadium. The Spaniard, the only home player left in the women’s Mutua Madrid Open, will now venture into the last sixteen, a personal best here, after beating the Swiss player in three sets (5-7, 6-1, 6-2) in an emotional two-hour battle.
The world No. 62 is repaying with interest the confidence placed in her by the organisers of the Madrid WTA 1000 by granting her a wildcard for the main draw. The determination of the player from Girona helped her connect with fans in the Caja Mágica, who were cheering her on throughout.
Teichmann, coached by a pair of Spanish ex-players Arantxa Parra and Beto Martín, took a close first set that lasted 52 minutes. Badosa was serving for the set in the ninth game, but the Swiss responded with three straight games to take a lead (7-5).
Having let slip a golden opportunity, the 2015 Junior French Open champion was not ready to back down, she stepped up her game to take control of the match and reduce her 16 unforced errors from the first set to just 5 in the second. Badosa managed to string together eight games to turn the match on its head (5-7, 6-1, 3-0).
????? de revés ?@paulabadosa | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/Di8X6wkQTB
— WTA Español (@WTA_Espanol) May 1, 2021
The proof of the maturity of Javier Martí’s understudy arrived when she sealed the victory. The New York-born player, who now resides in Madrid, held off two attempted breaks from Teichmann in the fifth game and finally sent her opponent packing on her serve in the seventh (6-2).
Monday will see Badosa bid for a place in the quarters against Anastasija Sevastova. The Latvian qualifier today left fifteenth seed Johanna Konta in her wake (6-3, 6-3).
Hard work and enjoyment
The only Spaniard left in the women’s competition is now in the third round, new heights for her at the #MMOPEN, in her most successful season on the WTA Tour. “Honestly, the thing I’m most proud of is that I’ve been working hard for a while, I’ve changed my attitude and I’m surrounded with good people”, noted Badosa, before pointing out that these aspects are “very important in an individual sport”.
This season’s semi-finalist in Lyon and Charleston explained that she now enjoys her “daily work because, at the end of the day, winning matches is no coincidence and it’s doing things right that brings results”, concluding that she is happy to be “surrounded by people that contribute and help me”.
