Paula Badosa’s excellent form continued on Wednesday as she defeated Katarzyna Kawa at the Hamburg Open.
Badosa, who beat the Pole 7-5, 6-4, has now won 10 of her last 11 matches on the WTA circuit.
The Spaniard’s improved play began in Sweden, where she defeated Emiliana Arango and Yulia Putintseva on her way to the title.
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Badosa carried her good form into the Iasi Open, where she reached the final.
She was then forced to retire while trailing Mayar Sherif 6-4, 4-0.
Kim Clijsters has since reacted to Badosa’s impressive performances, sharing her one wish for the 28-year-old.
Kim Clijsters hopes Paula Badosa can stay healthy after her run of good form
Paula Badosa became the world number two in April 2022.
Since then, the Spaniard’s progress has been stunted by persistent injury issues, resulting in a sharp decline in ranking.
On June 15 this year, Badosa fell to world number 142 – her lowest ranking since January 7, 2019.
However, Badosa has made great progress over the past month, rising 49 places to world number 93.
Kim Clijsters, the four-time major champion, has reflected on Badosa’s good form and her mental resilience in the face of injury.
“I really enjoyed seeing Paula Badosa getting to the final and winning a few matches in a row, and staying healthy through a few matches,” Clijsters stated on the Love All Podcast prior to the Spaniard’s opening-round victory in Germany.
“Unfortunately, then in the final she had to retire, but nice to see her getting a few matches under her belt, she’s been struggling for so long to play healthy for a certain amount of time.
“So hopefully she can stay healthy and recover from what happened in the final, come back and use this momentum and to build confidence up,” Clijsters [pictured below] added.
“It’s one of the hardest things to do, as a player you have injuries and you put in all the work to recover and you know you need to play matches, but then the next injury happens, and it’s really hard to get the train going.
“You need match rhythm, but then if your body doesn’t go along with that, it’s really hard.
“So for her to win a few matches in a row now is definitely a confidence booster.”
Kim Clijsters enjoyed Maria Sakkari’s campaign in Athens
Badosa is not the only former top five player who has enjoyed a spell of good form.
Maria Sakkari, the Greek former world number three, reached the final of the inaugural Athens Open last week.
Sakkari beat Polina Kudermetova, Harriet Dart, Alycia Parks and Alina Korneeva, before losing to two-time major singles champion Barbora Krejcikova.
“I really liked seeing Maria Sakkari in the final in her home country,” Clijsters said of the Greek’s performance in Athens. “Although she lost to Barbora Krejcikova who shows she can play really well on any surface which is fun to see.
“But for Sakkari, she’s a player who we’ve been talking about – we know she’s one of the fittest players on tour – she can make it hard for a lot of the top players, but she has never been able to put it together at a Grand Slam.
“So to see her be so emotional, she was so into it, it’s a very special feeling. Those two [Sakkari and Badosa] were definitely the ones that stood out for me.”
