Badosa in Adelaide: I’m back and injury-free

Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa confirmed she’s returned to fitness after half a season out with back problems as the Spaniard begins her new season at the WTA Adelaide event.

The girlfriend of Stefanos Tsitsipas who has not played since quitting the Wimbledon second round after nine games against Marta Kostyuk, is competing in the South Australia event for the first time.

The New York-born Spaniard ranked 68th said she is eager to get back onto court and test herself under fire with a week to go before the Australian Open start.

“I want to get back to my level as soon as possible. I know it’s going to be tough at the beginning,” she said.

“It’s been a lot of months that I didn’t play. Also I always wanted to win a Slam.

It’s one of my dreams, and it will always be until the day I retire.”

Badosa, who managed only one Grand Slam appearance in 2023, said there was little she could do to speed up recovering from her back problem.

“At the beginning I thought (about doing)  more hours of treatment and I’m going to heal faster. 

“Then I learned (about) just having patience, trying to let it heal by itself.”

She began noting progress only in the last month: “Since three, four weeks ago, I’ve been pain-free… but it was like a roller coaster, a very tough process.”