Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa has made a triumphant return to form, becoming the first player to reach the quarterfinals of the 2024 US Open. The 26-year-old New York-born athlete defeated Chinese player Yafan Wang in a dominant performance, winning 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour.Badosa’s victory is particularly significant given her recent struggles with a back injury that had her contemplating retirement from the sport. ‘I thought about quitting tennis a few months ago because I lost faith in myself and my injury wasn’t improving,’ Badosa revealed. ‘But now, being back among the best in the world is a dream come true.’The match, played under challenging humid conditions at Louis Armstrong Stadium, saw Badosa save all eight break points she faced. ‘It was so humid I thought I was going to die,’ Badosa commented after the match, ‘but I told myself, ‘I’m tougher than her”.This quarterfinal appearance marks a career-best for Badosa at the US Open and makes her the first Spanish woman to reach this stage of the tournament since Carla Suarez Navarro in 2018. Her next opponent will be either defending champion Coco Gauff or Emma Navarro.In other US Open news, Grigor Dimitrov has also secured a spot in the quarterfinals, defeating Andrey Rublev in a five-set thriller (6:3, 7:6(3), 1:6, 3:6, 6:3). This marks Dimitrov’s first US Open quarterfinal appearance since 2019.
Key points
- Paula Badosa has reached the US Open quarterfinals for the first time in her career.
- Badosa overcame recent injury struggles and thoughts of retirement to achieve this milestone.
- Grigor Dimitrov has also advanced to the quarterfinals, his first since 2019.
