Badosa bad back forces retirement

An existing stress fracture back injury forced Spain’s Paula Badosa to quit her second round match on Friday at Wimbledon.

The new girlfriend of Stefanos Tsitsipas handed over a 6-2, 1-0 win to Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, pulling the plug after 36 minutes.

The pullout means that she and the Greek will not be pairing in a mixed doubles love match here.

“The injury is the same as I have been struggling the past weeks,” Badosa said.

“I tried my best to try to play here, but yesterday when I woke up I already, after my first-round match, felt it again. 

“It’s a little bit worse… so I will need a few days off.”

The 35th-ranked Badosa had returned to the courts this week for the first time in a month and a half; she had missed the Australian and French Opens.

Badosa ended the opening set with five winners and 17 unforced errors, taking treatment at the changeover and ending her doomed effort after one more game.

“Today was worse. I wanted to give it a try in the match, but I think the smartest thing was to stop,” she said..