“I was thinking maybe I should quit because if I’m not in the highest level, I don’t want to play this sport,” Paula Badosa said last season, recalling her horrid injury struggles. However, her resurgence in 2024 – where she won the Washington Open title, played the Cincinnati semis, made it to the US Open quarterfinals, and regained her spot in top 50 in the world rankings – earned her the WTA Comeback Player of the Year award. Oozing confidence, Badosa started her 2025 season with high hopes as well, but dark clouds loom again. What has happened exactly?

Badosa’s career has been a rollercoaster. After clinching the Indian Wells title in 2021, the Spaniard got to the no. 2 position in the world rankings a year later. However, in 2023, she suffered a stress fracture in her L4/L5 vertebrae. Doctors informed her she’d be requiring cortisone injections in her back to continue playing. While she overcame all those challenges to bounce back, she has now suffered another injury setback.

The 27-year-old Spaniard was forced to withdraw from her R64 match against America’s Caroline Dolehide at the Indian Wells Open due to a lower back injury! Just a few days ago, she was seen struggling in her QF match against Australia’s Daria Saville at the Merida Open Akron due to a similar lower-back injury. Although she won the first set against the Aussie by 6-1, Badosa had to call the physio when the score was 3-4 in the second set. She played on for one more set before forfeiting the match at 6-1, 3-5.

Following the abrupt ending, she stated, “I had to pull out of the match in Merida because of lower back pain, but I’m already working on getting better. I’ll give it my all to get back on the court as soon as possible, with more energy than ever.”

Badosa tried her best to recover in time for the BNP Paribas Open. She even shared a picture on her IG account in which she could be seen lying on her front with several wires against her back. It seemed as if she was receiving intramuscular nerve stimulation to speed up the recovery process. The Spaniard captioned the post, “Step by Step.”

Despite putting in these efforts to get back to her full fitness levels before the tournament, Badosa had to give up on her participation in the BNP Paribas eventually. She shared an update with her fans, saying, “I’m very sorry to withdraw from one of my favorite tournaments. I tried until the last moment to play. I am really sad & hopefully will be back next year!” With Badosa’s withdrawal, German tennis player Eva Lys is now all set to take her spot in the draw.

This 23-year-old German already stunned the tennis world this year as a “lucky loser” at the 2025 AO. She became the first lucky loser to reach the R16 of the AO in the Open Era. Shortly after that incredible run, she made an entry in top 100 in the world rankings. Lys is currently ranked 78th in the world and she’s now the German number one.

After making her way into the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open, Lys shared the update on her IG stories with the caption, “rose from the dead again…🤠.” So, there is a lot to cheer for her at the moment, but for Badosa?

Paula Badosa confirms her participation at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

Paula Badosa recently managed to make a comeback to the Top 10 in the world rankings. After achieving that incredible feat, she said, “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, 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.” However, the Spaniard doesn’t want to stop here!

She already mentioned that her next target would be finishing the year inside the top 5 and booking a spot at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. However, to get to that stage, she needs to find a bit more consistency and grab a few more wins. Talking about wins, she currently has a win-loss record of 10-7 this year. Her best performance came at the AO, where she reached the SF, only to be beaten by her close friend, Aryna Sabalenka 4-6,2-6.

Paula Badosa now needs to get back to her peak fitness as soon as possible if she really wants to retain her Top 10 spot. While she might have withdrawn from the Indian Wells, the Spanish star recently confirmed her participation at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Remember, she reached the last four there in 2022, and then a day later, her incredible run was rewarded with the number 2 spot in the women’s singles rankings.

It’ll be interesting to see if Badosa can make a strong comeback on the Tour following her withdrawal from the Indian Wells. Maybe she can bounce back at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Are you backing her to win the title there if she participates?