The Spanish Paula Badosanumber 7 in the WTA ranking, got off to a good start this Saturday defending the title won last year in Indian Wells, by beating the Czech Tereza Martincova, number 42, 6-2 and 7-6(4).
In the tournament in which she made history last year, starting far from the favorites until she was crowned champion, Badosa returned to center court with a solid performance and triumphed in one hour and 37 minutes.
The Spanish player, 24 years old, positively solved a demanding debut, against a rival whom he had never beaten in three precedentswithout even being able to take away a set.
He fell to the Czech in Acapulco 2018, Essen 2019 and Ostrava 2020, but it was still a version of Badosa very different from the current one.
A player who gained confidence and who, after the feat of Indian Wells 2021, He already conquered the Sydney tournament in this 2022.
On center court at Indian Wells, just minutes after his compatriot Rafa Nadal will achieve an epic comeback against the American Sebastian Korda to advance to the round, Badosa quickly escaped 4-0 in the first set, with two breaks, and sentenced it with a solid 6-2 in just half an hour.
More complicated was the second set, in which Martincova increased the level and took the Spanish serve in the second game. However, Badosa returned the break to him immediately and from that moment on he did not grant him any more options with the serve.
And it was aggressive to the rest. He had three break chances with 4-4 on the scoreboardbut his rival managed to annul them and force the tiebreaker.
The reigning champion knew how to manage the pressure well and competed solidly in the tiebreaker, taking command of the points and sentence the crash 7-4 to prolong his way in the Californian desert.