Paula Badosa had hoped to round off the notable final sprint she has had since the summer, but her fortune was definitely cut short. The culprit, a gastroenteritis that will prevent her from competing at the last minute these days in the Wuhan tournament and that, having done the math, practically puts an end to the options she still had of qualifying for the Masters Cup that will be held from the 2nd to the 9th of November in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). Therefore, she will not be able to repeat her participation three years ago in Guadalajara (Mexico), where she reached the semifinals and was among the strongest tennis players on the circuit. That edition was the last one that featured Spanish representation, crowned then with the triumph of Garbiñe Muguruza, who had retired since April.
An hour before the duel that was theoretically going to confront the Australian Ajla Tolmjanovic, the Wuhan organization announced the withdrawal of the Catalan, who the previous week progressed to the penultimate round of the Beijing tournament and who in turn has signed a creditable climb starting in May. Then alighted from top-100its performance has described an upward line until it once again enters the top 15; a record that, however, continues to be insufficient to access the Arab event next month. Badosa is the eleventh best in the race —the annual race that determines the eight best—, but by not being able to obtain points this week, she will not reach the minimum cut, which is currently set by the Chinese Qinwen Zheng.
He still has two bullets to enter the locker, in Ningbo and Tokyo, but he could add a maximum of 1,000 points – 500 per tournament, as long as he won them – and right now he is more than 750 behind Zheng. The Asian, Emma Navarro (7th), Jessica Pegula (6th), Jasmine Paolini (5th) and Coco Gauff (4th), as if that were not enough, will earn more points and increase the income during the next few days, so that the possibility of The fact that she could be in Riyadh – for the first time as a host, after five years of roaming – is rather remote. Added to this is the presence of the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, who as a Grand Slam champion (Wimbledon) can achieve a direct pass. However, they could attend as a reserve if any of the qualifiers cannot compete due to injury or resign at the last minute.
Badosa, 26 years old, is today one of the fittest tennis players on the circuit and has completed a spectacular comeback. In May 2023, she was diagnosed with a severe injury that placed her career at a crossroads—fracture of the L4 vertebra—and she fell on the world list until she was moved to 140th place; However, his physique has respected him in recent times and the improvement in results—eighth at Wimbledon, title in Washington, the quarterfinals of the US Open and the semifinal reached in Beijing—has granted him a promotion (15th) that made him dream about the Masters. Once again the Spanish reference, after having become the second in the world in 2022, she now regrets the indisposition that separates her from Wuhan and that, unless the script changes, will also deprive her of Riyadh. In any case, he appreciates his progression and national tennis seems to have recovered an important asset.
ALCARAZ, IN FRONT OF MONFILS IN SHANGHAI
Today, only the first two in the ranking are guaranteed to be present in the Masters, the Polish Iga Swiatek and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. And in the men’s case, only the Italian Jannik Sinner, the German Alexander Zverev and the Murcian Carlos Alcaraz have achieved it. The Murcian will enter the round of 16 of the Shanghai Masters 1000 this Wednesday (around 8.30, Movistar+) against the Frenchman Gael Monfils.
There, the rain has finally allowed the action to take place normally and Novak Djokovic beat the Italian Flavio Cobolli this Tuesday in one hour (6-1 and 6-2). The 24-year-old champion will face Roman Safiullin (61st) in the round of 16, and will do so with the best historical percentage in the Masters 1000; With his victory against Cobolli he surpasses Rafael Nadal’s average in the photo-finish (82.02%-82%).
On the other hand, the American Frances Tiafoe is exposed to a high sanction, having shouted against the chair umpire after the arm wrestling match with Safiullin. Specifically, the American repeated “fuck you!” several times, after having been penalized with the loss of the first serve during the third set tiebreaker for delaying serving.
