Paula Badosa\u2019s victory over Daria Kasatkina in the third round at Wimbledon 2024 represents her biggest comeback win after the back injuries that have tormented her over the last two years. In an early rounds epic in London SW19, which was delayed first by rain and then by a spectator\u2019s illness, Badosa finally won in three sets \u2013 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4 \u2013 in just under three hours.<\/p>\n
Just over two years ago, the same two players had met in another third-round match at the 2022 Italian Open. It is fair to say that since that match in Rome, the two players\u2019 career trajectories have completely switched tracks. Badosa went into that match in the Italian capital as the second seed, having been ranked as highly as No.2 in the world earlier in the year. By contrast, at that time, Kasatkina was still in the middle of a long slump in form that had seen her slide back down the rankings since first breaking through on the WTA Tour in 2018, when she reached the French Open semi-final at the age of 18.<\/p>\n
Two years on from their encounter in Rome, Badosa has not so much slid down the rankings as gone into freefall, mainly as the result of the stress fracture to her back that she suffered after Wimbledon 2023. That injury ended up keeping her off court for more than six months until her return at this year\u2019s Australian Open. By complete contrast, Kasatkina\u2019s defeat of Badosa in Rome effectively acted as the springboard to the second half of her career, as she followed it up by reaching the 2022 French Open semi-final and has been consistently in good form since.<\/p>\n