"Finally, I’m back pain-free": Paula Badosa shares feelings after recovering from serious back injury

Spain’s Paula Badosa has opened up about difficulties faced during her time off the court. The 27-year-old returned to the court after spending two months on the sidelines because of a back injury. It was not the first time when Badosa suffered a back injury as previously she had to stay off the court for a long time because of similar injury problems as well.

The New York-born star cemented her spot in the quarterfinals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg after being awarded a walkover against Marie Bouzkova, who retired midway through the first set when the score was 3-3. Badosa spoke to the media after the match and explained how difficult it was to recover from a chronic back injury. The former world number two also revealed that she now feels ‘pain free’ and also revealed that mentally, she was ‘hurt’ after suffering a recent injury.

“I’m happy to be back after two months,” she said. “It was tough. It was a tough journey. I’m still very far from my level, but hopefully I can be there soon. This time for me, mentally, it hurt. Because I think I was playing the best tennis of my life. I was playing very well. Physically, I was feeling very well also. Stopping like this was tough for me. Finally, I’m back pain-free.”

Badosa will now face Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the quarterfinal of the competition on Thursday. The 26-year-old cemented her spot in the last eight after beating France’s Diane Parry in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. It will be the fifth meeting between the two players. In the previous four meetings, Samsonova clearly had an edge as she had won on three occasions and suffered just one defeat. Their most recent meeting came during a WTA event in Washington, where Badosa emerged victorious after being awarded a walkover.