Not so long ago, Paula Badosa was on the verge of retiring from professional tennis due to a serious back injury. However, things have changed a lot for the Spaniard in the last few months. After an impressive ending to the 2024 season, Badosa made a dream start to her campaign in 2025. She recently reached the maiden Grand Slam SF at the AO in Melbourne and guess what? Paula Badosa has now arrived in Abu Dhabi having won 30 of her 39 matches.

She’s all set to face Linda Noskova (CZE) in the R16 of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Open. Noskova didn’t have a great start this season, but her reputation for upsetting top-level players makes this contest more interesting!

Paula Badosa vs. Linda Noskova: Preview

Paula Badosa was initially struggling a bit last season, but then afterward, she slowly regained a bit of momentum with the help of her successive long runs in some of the tournaments. It started with her title triumph at the Citi Open, where she defeated another Czech tennis player Marie Bouzkova by 6-1,4-6,6-4 in the final. After that, she reached the SF in Cincinnati and even made it to the QF at the 2024 US Open.

Not only that, Paula Badosa also reached the SFs at the China Open and the Ningbo Open. In 2025, although we saw him making early exits from Brisbane and Adelaide, she was quite impressive in Melbourne. Paula Badosa is entering this tournament following her SF defeat to Aryna Sabalenaka at the 2025 AO.

On the other hand, Linda Noskova failed to put up an impressive performance in Australia. She made early exits from all three tournaments (Brisbane International, Adelaide International, and the AO). However, Noskova will be entering this match following her dominating victory (6-0,6-3) against Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the R32.

Now, talking about her performance in the last year, Linda Noskova reached the SF at the 2024 Brisbane International and the Prague Open before clinching a title at the Monterrey Open. In Monterrey, she defeated New Zealand’s Lulu Sun by 7-6(6),6-4 in the final. On her day, Noskova surely has the potential to upset even some of the bigger names in the tennis world. Can she beat the former world number 2, though?

Badosa vs. Noskova: Head-to-Head

Paula Badosa and Linda Noskova haven’t yet met each other on the Tour. So, currently, their Head-to-Head record is at 0-0. Who will have the last laugh in their first encounter?

Prediction: Badosa to win in straight sets

Looking at the Spaniard’s form in the last few months, it’s very difficult to put someone ahead of her at the moment. Paula Badosa is currently ranked number 10 in the world and if we take a look at the numbers, she had a win-loss record of 37-19 in the 2024 season. On the other hand, Linda Noskova (39) had a win-loss record of 26-18 in the previous season. Badosa comes up with a vast experience on the women’s Tour, while the 20-year-old Czech is still relatively a newcomer. Considering all these factors, we feel Paula Badosa may get the edge in this contest quite comfortably.

Now, shifting our focus to their playing styles, Linda Noskova has an aggressive style of play. Her aggressive game plan is backed up by a solid forehand and backhand that she can place deep in the court or at angles. Noskova is a good server and her aggressive baseliner game along with powerful groundstrokes can cause a few troubles for Paula Badosa in this match. However, it’ll be extremely crucial for Noskova to start this match with full confidence and play with a fair bit of consistency to stand a chance against someone like Badosa.

Talking about Paula Badosa’s playing style, well, she’s also an aggressive baseliner and her game mainly centers on powerful serves and lethal groundstrokes. So, this is what makes this contest more interesting! Apart from these, Paula Badosa also possesses effective and reliable kick and slice serves that she often uses as second serves.

However, the biggest worry for the Spaniard is her high number of double fault counts. She hit 265 aces last season and committed almost 310 double faults! So, this is something that Badosa needs to keep an eye on in the 2025 season. Other than that, Paula Badosa can also deceive her opponents with her effective drop shots, and she even has a solid defensive game. Looking at her weapons, we feel the Spaniard has a higher chance of excelling on this surface than the Czech!