WHAT HAPPENED: A back-in-form Paula Badosa put on a show worthy of her seeding, defeating world No. 80 Wang Yafan, 6-1, 6-2, in the fourth round of the 2024 US Open on Sunday.
But while the scoreline made it seem like an effortless win for the No. 24 seed, tight game scores and the quality of the rallies told a slightly different story, with both players hitting deep into the court and finding the corners, occasionally punctuated by looping forehands to change up the pacing.
Wang had two break point opportunities in the first game, but failed to convert both times by making unforced errors. After those close calls and the first two games totaling about 17 minutes, Badosa snapped into gear and ran away with the next four games until Wang held at love in the next game to bring the score to 5-1. The Spainiard served out the first set, starting with an ace and ending with a winner into the back corner.
Wang, hoping to become the fifth Chinese woman in the Open Era to book a spot in the US Open quarterfinals, refocused for the second set, holding her first two service games. However, the former world No. 2’s strength at the baseline and impeccable passing shots proved too perfectly placed for Wang to find her footing and come back, as Badosa took five straight games to clinch her spot in the quarterfinals.
After the first two games, Badosa regained her aggressive style of play, which paid off against her more conservative, tactical opponent. While Wang did make fewer unforced errors than her opponent, she made more forced errors and hit fewer winners. But Badosa was consistent where it counted, saving all eight of the break points she faced, converting four of the five break point opportunities she had, and winning 70% of her first serve points compared to Wang’s 59%.
“She's very smart on the court, so I'm really happy,” Badosa said in her post-match press conference. “I was very aggressive, I went for my shots. I think I'm playing pretty well [in] all the matches, and today I could prove that.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Badosa has already had her career-best showing at the US Open by reaching the fourth round, and will now equal her best Grand Slam result, an appearance in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2021. The Washington, D.C. champion is now the fourth Spanish woman to reach the final eight at the US Open in the Open Era, joining Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Conchita Martinez, and Carla Suarez Navarro.
The 26-year-old is guaranteed to face an American in her next match—either reigning champion Coco Gauff or the on-the-rise Emma Navarro. Badosa leads in the head-to-heads against both, and has come back to win a match from behind nine times during the 2024 season, bested only by Navarro who has won from a set down 10 times this year.
Unfortunately for Badosa, although she was born in New York City, the crowd will mostly be behind the player who has the American flag next to their name. However, that is not dampening her excitement, especially just a few months after she considered retiring from tennis due to her back injury.
“It's still going to be cool. It's going to be my first time in Ashe,” Badosa said. “It's going to be my first time in a quarterfinals [here], also, so it's an experience for me. I like these kinds of challenges. I was born to play on big stages, and I'm really looking forward for that.”
MATCH POINT: Since falling in the fourth round at Wimbledon to Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic, Badosa owns a 14-2 record, winning the title in Washington, D.C. and losing to Top 10 players Jelena Ostapenko in the second round at Toronto and Jessica Pegula in the semifinals at Cincinnati.
