A Paula Badosa had not been smiled by the draws for the final tables in her first tournaments of the year. First they had to do with Victoria Azarenka in Adelaide, match that ended with the triumph of the Belarusian, a revenge for the Indian Wells title that the Catalan took from him last year. And at the WTA 500 in Sydney I expected another bone in the debut: Jelena Ostapenko (24 years, 28th). But in the end, Paula was able to break her winning streak in 2022 to end a three-game losing streak (to Swiatek and Muguruza at the 2021 WTA Finals and Azarenka in Adelaide last week), thanks to a intelligent reading of the game: 7-6 (1) and 6-1 in 1h 21 minutes.
The game started lacking in rhythm. Except for some isolated exchange, most of the points were resolved by failed remains. Ostapenko, more aggressive and forceful in the initial section from the back of the track, tried to wear Paula down, making her run to the Spanish side by side. Paula saved the ballot in the tenth game, after Ostapenko got the break in her first opportunity and had a serve to close the first set. The Catalan signed the counterbreak and thanks to that mental strength that she displayed so many times last year, she punctuated the first set with a resounding partial in the tie-break: 7-1.
True to her unpredictable performance, the best and worst of the game was the signing of the Latvian, with bright flashes and mistakes typical of a youth. It served Paula to maintain her solid game scheme in the face of the huge amount of unforced errors from Ostapenko, which ended up blurred. After an exchange of breaks at the start of the second set, the Spanish played five games in a row to seal her first individual victory of the year (in Adelaida won two doubles matches with Azarenka), accompanied by a move to the second round of the tournament. There it will be measured with Tomljanovic or a player from the previous phase. At last, a more ‘friendly’ opponent to continue improving feelings.
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