Paula Badosa’s dream of becoming a champion in Indian Wells has come to an end. The Spanish fell to Kazakh Elena Rybakina 6-3, 7-5in the second round of the Californian tournament.
Paula, who managed to win this Masters in 2021, had a golden opportunity to tie the match in the second set after placing a break up against number 10 in the world ranking, but the consistency and solidity of the current Wimbledon champion made her pass to the round of 16 a reality in one hour and 35 minutes of play.
Badosa reached the second round in the Californian desert after eliminate his compatriot Nuria parrizas last Saturday with a good performance on the tracks of the Californian desert.
In the first set, Rybakina took the lead after breaking Badosa’s serve in the eighth game. The Spanish, previously, had saved three break balls, although she could not avoid lose the first set 6-3 against a high level of his rival.
Paula first broke Rybakina’s serve in the sixth game of the second set and position himself, thus, with 4-2 in favor on the scoreboard. In addition, he had another breaking point to seal the set, but he wasted that opportunity and that was taken advantage of by a Rybakina who recovered the break to equalize the score at 5.
Finally, the second sleeve closed with a 7-5 in favor of the Top 10 and will face, in the round of 16, the winner of the match between the Russians Gracheva and Kasatkina.
