Spain’s Paula Badosa has been forced to withdraw from her upcoming tournaments after a flare-up of a long-time back injury that has previously put her career in jeopardy.
The former world No.2 confirmed on social media that she has pulled out of the Charleston Open due to back pain which she describes as ‘very sad and tough to deal with.’ Badosa recently played at the Miami Open where she produced wins over Victoria Mboko and Clara Tauson. However, she withdrew from her quarter-final match against Alexandra Eala due to her back.
Earlier in the season, she also retired from a match at the Merida Open in Mexico before skipping Indian Wells due to the same issue.
“Hello everyone, as you know I had to withdraw from Miami and the upcoming tournaments,” Badosa said on Instagram.
“It’s very sad and tough to deal with the pain … stopping and coming back every single time.
“Now it’s time to go through the recovery process again. Hopefully I will be back soon.”
In 2023, the 27-year-old suffered a stress fracture in her back which resulted in her facet joints being constantly inflamed. She was required to take injections to help deal with the pain but was only allowed to take a maximum of three a year. At its worst, Badosa considered ending her career. Since the stress fracture, she has had to endure periods of setbacks with her back.
“One point of last year that I was pretty close (to retiring) because I wasn’t seeing myself at the level,” she told reporters earlier this year at the Australian Open.
“The back wasn’t responding well. I didn’t find solutions.
“But I wanted to keep it a last try, a last chance to finish the year and let’s see how it would go. Well, here I am. So I’m really proud of what we went through with all my team and especially how I fight through all that, especially mentally.”
However, Badosa has still managed to produce solid results of the Tour with runs to the US Open quarter-finals last year and the Australian Open semi-finals in January. She is currently ranked 11th in the world.
It is yet to be confirmed which tournament Badosa is targeting to return to.
