Badosa defeats Kostiuk and is already in the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 in Rome

With her victory against Marta Kostiuk (6-4 and 6-2), Paula Badosa confirmed the good pace with which she walks at an important moment of the season, less than two weeks before the start of Roland Garros. If already in the Madrid Masters, where she lost in the round of 16 against Maria Sakkari, the Spanish hinted that she was beginning to recover the game that took her to number two in the world a little over a year ago, now, in Rome, that impression is strengthened. .

This Monday (7:00 p.m.. Teledeporte), against Karolina Muchova, has the opportunity to be among the eight best in the tournament, something she has already achieved in Stuttgart (Sabalenka) and Charleston (Pegula).. The Czech won 7-6 (6) and 6-4 in the only previous meeting between the two, in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, in 2021.

Badosa started the season promisingly and reached the semifinals in Adelaide, but a groin injury prevented him from meeting Daria Kasatkina and playing in the Australian Open.. The former Roland Garros junior champion has won three titles throughout her career, including Indian Wells, when it was held in the fall of 2021 due to the pandemic.

New team

In mid-April he presented his new work team, which has Eduard Esteve and Pol Toledo in the technical direction, two young tennis players still with ATP ranking. It is a new turn of the screw on her bench, agitated since she broke her relationship with Xavi Budó, the coach who rescued her when, victim of depression, she was not far from abandoning the racket.

This Sunday, the Polish Iga Swiatek, number 1 in the world, two-time champion of the tournament and recent finalist in Madrid, defeated Lesa Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0, two days after hitting Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0 double. After the entrance fall of Aryna Sabalenka, winner in the Caja Mágica, the Foro Italico was left without Coco Gauff, sixth favorite, surpassed by Marie Bouzkova.

In the men's draw, Novak Djokovic, defending champion and six-time winner, dropped a set against Grigor Dimitrov, showing the difficulties he usually faces in the clay season. Carlos Alcaraz seeks this afternoon (around 1:00 p.m., Movistar) to join him in the round of 16. To do this, he must beat the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, 135th, a 23-year-old player from the previous one who usually moves through challenger tournaments.