The Spanish Paula Badosa wasted this Saturday a match point in the second set and fell 3-6, 7-5 and 6-3 against the Kazakh Elena Rybakina in the second round of the Miami tournament, after the Wimbledon champion I already eliminated him two weeks ago in Indian Wells.
Badosa, number 29 in the world, was 4-2 up in the second set and, despite losing the lead break, had a match point at 5-4 and Rybakina on serve. She was unable to take advantage of it and ended up succumbing to the Indian Wells champion after a battle of two hours and 32 minutes.
The Spaniard, who is going through a very difficult moment and has not beaten rivals in the top 10 ranking since April 2022, seemed to have overcome the most difficult moment against Rybakina and had shown signs of growth on a technical and mental level.
Because, despite a start to the match with little continuity, marked by fragility with the serve of both players and four breaks in the first four games, she began to hit with strength and confidence, hurting Rybakina and taking the first set by 6 -3.
That partial released him from the tension and Badosa achieved another break in the second set to escape 4-2, against a Rybakina who seemed to lack energy.
The Kazakh was coming off a brilliant run to the Indian Wells title, as well as the Australian Open final, and had shown signs of weariness in her hard-fought victory in her debut against Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya. She but she pulled champion stripes and managed to recover her break by vertically increasing the level of her blows.
Badosa grew frustrated and repeatedly looked to his coaching staff for answers. What I do? What I do? What do I do?, he yelled when he saw how the game was getting out of hand.
In a break late in the second set, she also made gestures to her coaching staff suggesting that Rybakina found the lines by hitting without looking.
Rybakina became strong with the serve and took advantage of her fourth break ball at 5-5 in the light to open the way to 7-5 that tied the game and forced the Spanish to react.
Badosa managed to withstand the psychological blow positively and held serve to love to open the third set, but suffered the decisive break in the seventh game and Rybakina held serve to love to go 5-3 up.
He returned to deliver the serve and saw the pass to the round of 16 vanish. She exchanged a heartfelt hug with Rybakina, a player she is friends with and with whom she also often plays doubles.
Of course, it is a tough defeat for Badosa, who last year had been a quarterfinalist in Miami. Currently, the Spanish would leave the top 30 and would end up in position 33 in the ranking.
It was a lost opportunity for Badosa, as the Polish Iga Swiatek, number one in the world, was no longer on his side of the field, who withdrew from the tournament due to a rib problem. In addition, the Russian Daria Kasatkina (n.8), who could be her rival in the round of 16, fell in her debut.
