The Spanish Paula Badosa fell this Monday 6-3 and 7-5 against the Kazakh Elena Rybakina, number 10 in the world ranking, and said goodbye to the Indian Wells tournament, of which she was champion in 2021, in the second round.
Badosa, number 22 in the world, was up a break in the second set and had options to turn the game around, but succumbed to Rybakina, Wimbledon champion in 2022, who shielded her pass to the round of 16 in one hour and 35 minutes.
It was also a difficult match on a mental level for both players, two friends who also compete together in doubles. Barely 24 hours after meeting in the center, they had lost their match against the Belgian Elise Mertens and the Australian Storm Hunter.
Badosa, who was champion in Indian Wells in 2021, reached the second round in the Californian desert after eliminating her compatriot Nuria Párrizas last Saturday with a good performance.
He had won all three of Badosa's previous meetings, including the Billie Jean King Cup, but Rybakina was solid with the serve and knocked him out of a tournament in which he had been a semifinalist last year.
The Kazakhstani took the lead in the first set with a break in the seventh game, after Badosa canceled out three break balls in the fifth, and sealed the set 6-3 with a new break in the ninth game.
Badosa reacted with pride and broke Rybakina's serve for the first time to escape 4-2. He had another breaking ball to put the set downhill, but he forgave her and his match got complicated again.
Rybakina recovered the break and annulled two other break balls with 5-5 on the scoreboard to open the way to the final 7-5
In the round of 16, the Kazakh will face the winner of the match between the Russians Varvara Gracheva and Daria Kasatkina.
