Paula Badosa could not complete the comeback against Tamara Zidansek and was at the gates of her first semi-final at Roland Garros. The Slovenian won the match after about two and a half hours of play with a result of 7-5, 4-6 and 8-6.
Paula Badosa and Tamara Zidansek were in charge of opening the day at the Philippe Chatrier, on a day in which the first semi-finals of Roland Garros would be defined. It was the most important match in the race for both of them, so whoever managed the nerves better would have a better chance of winning in an unprecedented duel in the WTA.
It was the Spanish who showed greater mettle from the start and broke the Slovenian’s service. In his first turn to serve, Badosa hit an ace and with a blank game he confirmed the advantage. The gap in the scoreboard was even greater after taking advantage of a new break ball with which he made it 3-0 in just over ten minutes. But after passing through the chair, he hit a double fault and Zidansek took advantage. With two winners from the forehand and an unforced error from the Spanish, the Slovenian made the break and ended up hooking the sleeve with her serve (3-2).
Zidansek, who until this year had never made it past the first round in Paris, began to loosen up and play more aggressive, again breaking Paula’s serve to put the tables (3-3). Far from being intimidated by the Slovenian’s arreón, Badosa again took the initiative in the set with a new break, but could not confirm the advantage. In the ninth a psychological battle was fought, Zidansek had to face a deuce after taking the game dominated with 40-15, but he connected a passing to the line and maintained his service.
Badosa squeezed out on winning remains in the eleventh game, but a doubtful ball to the line was called out and confirmed by the chair umpire. It would have been a break ball, but the Slovenian kept her serve and broke in the twelfth, taking advantage of the second set ball (5-7). “You were wrong there,” the Spaniard told the Portuguese chair umpire Carlos Ramos, pointing out where the controversial ball had thrown.
Smear and new account?
After a set loaded with alternatives that ended up falling on the side of Zidansek, Badosa had to make a clean slate, but found himself against the ropes in his second turn to serve. He risked the second service and double-faulted, confirmed by the chair umpire. “Why are you going down?” She said, more upset by the ball from the previous set. And he repeated with another double fault until he finished giving up his service (1-3). The game was uphill for Javier Martí’s pupil, but he pulled on pride to finish turning the set (6-4). After almost an hour and a half of the game, the battle was in a draw.
His tension with the chair umpire continued and even cost Paula a warning for sportsmanship, according to the Portuguese, after a conversation in one of the exchanges, but Badosa continued to do his thing, with his mind set on the comeback. She broke the Slovenian’s serve at the beginning but the advantage disappeared in the fourth game, after failing on the second break ball.
From there, each one struggled to maintain their service until it was 6-6 without any option to break. Without a tiebreak in the third set, we entered a moment of the game in which any mistake was very expensive. It took Zidansek nearly nine minutes to put it 6-7 on the scoreboard after lifting three break balls to Paula and then breaking the Spanish’s serve to get into her first Grand Slam semi-final. With a drive, his best shot, he closed the match after almost two and a half hours of play (7-5, 4-6 and 8-6).
