Paula Badosa confirms return to competition after French Open absence and ranking drop

Paula Badosa has confirmed her return to competition after failing to qualify for the French Open. The former world No. 2 has dropped again in the rankings in recent months — this time falling outside the top 100, which left her out of the main draw at Roland Garros.

The Spanish player — who was a quarterfinalist in Paris in 2021 — chose not to enter the qualifiers for the second Grand Slam of the year after a negative run of defeats in recent weeks. Badosa has four consecutive losses on the clay swing, and her last appearance came at the Madrid Open, where she received a wildcard but was eliminated after suffering a bagel against young Julia Grabher in the first round.

Badosa has again struggled with injuries over the past year and has dropped sharply in the rankings in recent months. She is now positioned at No. 119 and is expected to continue falling once the French Open concludes, moving closer to dropping out of the top 150 depending on results in Paris.

After her defeat in Madrid, the Spanish player announced that she would take a break from competition to recover mentally, although she did not confirm a return date. A recent update now confirms her return during the grass-court swing in the coming weeks.

Badosa confirmed her return in three weeks — just one week after the end of the French Open. The former Indian Wells champion will compete at the Libema Open, a grass-court tournament starting on June 4, where she has received a wildcard from the organisers.

“Hi everyone, I’m super grateful and excited to announce that I’m going to receive a wildcard for the Libema Open,” Badosa said on the tournament’s official Instagram page. “I’m happy to return back to competition after a while, and I’m really looking forward to playing in front of the fans in The Netherlands. See you very soon!”

The Libema Open, a WTA 250 event, will feature Belgian Elise Mertens as defending champion after she defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse in straight sets in the 2025 final. Players such as Liudmila Samsonova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Anett Kontaveit and Simona Halep are among those who have previously won the title in the Dutch tournament.

It will not be the first time Badosa competes at the Libema Open, as she featured at the tournament in 2019, entering the main draw through qualifying in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, where she reached the second round before losing.

On the other hand, Badosa was not included in the Wimbledon entry list among the direct entrants, meaning she will need to go through qualifying if she wants to compete at the third Grand Slam of the year. Another option would be a wildcard, although that remains unlikely, with SW19 typically prioritising British players for main draw spots.

Badosa has not played Grand Slam qualifying since the 2019 US Open, which was her first season on the main Grand Slam circuit, where she reached the main draw and the first round before losing to Kiki Bertens (7th seed) in straight sets.