Paula Badosa speaks out on the double standards between men's and women's tennis -"On the female side, critics say that you're unfocused"
WTA
The last time Paula Badosa on a WTA singles title was in January when she defeated the likes of Jelena Ostapenko, Ajla Tomljanovic, Belinda Bencic, Daria Kasatkina, and Barbora Krejcikova to win the Sydney International, a WTA 500 event.
Although Badosa has been able to retain the third spot in the rankings, her struggle to find her best form has been glaringly evident. She hasn't been able to advance further than the fourth round at any of the season's Grand Slam tournaments.
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Badosa recently spoke to El Larguero, a Spanish radio sports program, and mentioned the criticism that she has faced, also revealing that there were online threats to go with it. She holds it against the media for being much harsher with female players than their male counterparts.
"Yes, it [criticism] came to me as a crisis. I've always been very demanding, but being very emotional and visceral has made it very difficult for me to deal with those things," Badosa said. "There are also threats. In the end, you don't have to pay attention. There are people who are not balanced, they are the ones who have the problem.
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"I think that on the female side, it is more complicated because the critics say that you are unfocused. Or if you have some marketing agreement, they tell you that you do not perform in tennis. I don't see that so much on the male side. And there is a part which is more tabloids than sports media. That's why I've taken a step back with that."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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mandoist08-11-2026 - Wtf? Why is there no reason? And what about the men's?Bel08-11-2026
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mandoist06-11-2026 - Enough of her bullshit. Go marry someone.
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mandoist31-10-2026









