Paula Badosa responds to “disrespectful” claims about withdrawal

Badosa considered ending her playing career in 2024 due to a series of injuries, including a chronic back problem.

It was ranked second in 2022, but despite returning to the top 10 last year, it is now ranked 70th.

She added: “Believe me, I am the first one to suffer from pain, suffer from endless nightmares, and try to find solutions every day.”

“I’ll always try again. If there’s even a 1% chance I’ll stick around, I’ll take it.”

Badosa, who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January 2025, criticized the toxicity of some social media.

“So the only disrespect for me is to go on social media and read messages like this,” she added.

“Then we complain if we see players or people struggling and having mental health issues. But I’m not surprised by the amount of hate and ‘experts’ we have here.”

Badosa’s comments come on the heels of Destani Aiava announcing her imminent retirement at 25, saying she has a “racist, misogynistic and homophobic” culture.

As part of her explanation for her decision, Aiava said she faced abuse from online trolls – an issue that affected many players in the game.

British player Katie Poulter shared some of the abuse she received with BBC Sport last year to help highlight the scale of the problem.

Figures from data science company Signify, the International Tennis Federation and the Women’s Tennis Association show that in 2024, around 8,000 publicly abusive, violent or threatening messages were sent to 458 tennis players via their social media accounts, many of which stemmed from betting.