Paula Badosa is back in the Top 10! Literally no one, not even Badosa herself could’ve predicted this one year ago. The 27-year-old Spaniard hit one of the lowest points of her career on May 20, 2024, dropping to the 140th spot in the women’s singles ranking. Highlighting that moment during an interview at the 2024 US Open, Badosa said, “My results weren’t what I was expecting in that moment. So it was really bad… In my mind I was thinking, like, maybe I should quit because if I’m not in the highest level, I don’t want to play this sport. I don’t want to be in the ranking I was in that moment.” However, things changed a lot for her in the later phases of the 2024 season…

It has been an exciting eight months for Paula Badosa. She reached the fourth round at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships and then clinched a title in Washington. Her title triumph was followed by SF runs in Cincinnati, Beijing, and Ningbo. She also made it to the QF of the US Open last year. Recently, she also reached the last four at a Grand Slam for the first time. Her incredible performance at the 2025 AO, drew praise from the fans and several tennis experts.

Paula Badosa’ also got rewarded for her incredible consistency in the last few months. She has now yet again entered the Top 10. Currently, the Spaniard is sitting at the tenth spot with just 121 points behind the number 9, Emma Navarro (USA). It’ll be interesting to see if she climbs up the ladders further in this season. The stars definitely look aligned, with a winning start in Doha. The former world number 2 defeated Renata Zarazua (MEX) in the first round of the 2025 Qatar Open by 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

With this win, she has now become the third Spanish tennis player to achieve 50 or more victories in the WTA 1000 category! Shortly after this match, she gave an interview. Badosa was asked to reflect on how rewarding the past 8 months have been. In reply to that, the Spaniard said, “Yeah, it’s been crazy. I mean just thinking that I’m a top 10 again. I did it once before the injury, and doing it twice for me, it’s amazing! I’m really proud and especially all the struggles, this time of the season last year I was still feeling a lot of pain. So getting here one year after, Top 10 means the world for me.”

Even at the start of this month, we saw Paula Badosa sharing a few words on how tough it was for her to make this comeback. She confessed, “It was very tough. Some days, I like to be alone with my thoughts and I go back to those moments… just the thought of it is tough, it was very painful. I was very, very close to retiring.” What really kept her going, though?

Faith! Yes, Paula Badosa revealed that she had faith in herself and wanted to give herself a new chance. Her love for the sport kept her going through the dark. Now, since she has already made it into the Top 10, what are are goals for the rest of the season?

Paula Badosa aims to climb up the ladders further in 2025

Despite her heroics in Melbourne, Paula Badosa revealed that her goals for the 2025 season haven’t changed. All she now wants is to finish inside the Top 7 and book her spot at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Speaking on her goal and sharing her thoughts on her incredible comeback, Badosa said, “I started winning matches after six months, started a little bit late. So hopefully this year I can react a little bit sooner and I’m able to go to Riyadh… After all my struggles, especially the past years, being back in Top 10, being back at this level makes me realize that I’m much stronger than I thought.”

However, her path to achieving her goals in the 2025 season is going to be full of hoops to jumps through. Who is her biggest hurdle in the women’s Tour, though? Well, Paula Badosa’s dream run at the 2025 AO came to an end at the hands of her ‘soulmate’ Aryna Sabalenka. Both these players have met each other 8 times in their careers so far, but the Belarusian has a clear edge of 6-2 in the H2H record.

Recently, both Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka gave an interview. While talking to Pavel Kisly, Badosa said, “When you watch a movie you want to know the end how it’s going to finish or you don’t want to know it. Of course you don’t want to know it, so in women’s tennis you never know… In men’s tennis you always know okay Rafa, Djokovic, Roger. So in women, you never know what’s going to happen. And I hope you start losing (pointing towards Sabalenka) so it’s more entertaining.”

Paula Badosa needs to beat the best in the game to reach where she wants to be. She has already been a world number 2 before, so she knows exactly what it takes to reach those heights. How different is this entry into the Top 10 if compared to what she achieved in April 2022? Speaking about this in an interview, Badosa said, “I feel completely different. At that time, everything was very extreme for me: I went from being nobody, like 70th in the world, to being number two… in just under a year. Suddenly, I felt like everyone knew me.”

Badosa said now she has managed to remove the fear factor from her game. She wants to win every match but if she loses, she’ll be a bit disappointed, but won’t feel the fear anymore. With such a go-getter attitude, the future looks bright for the Spaniard. Share your thoughts on Badosa’s incredible comeback.