Starting a Grand Slam tournament with a smooth debut is every tennis player's dream. It is the best way to get rid of nerves, to start growing with confidence. In the Wimbledon temple, if there were doubts about her lack of competitive rhythm since she was injured at Roland Garros, Paula Badosa was in charge of dispelling them at the first change.
The Spanish had a pleasant first round match. Reliable with her serve - almost always playing with the first one - and choosing well the moment to be aggressive, she did what she had to do without going out of the script to advance the round without trouble against Louisa Chirico (6-2 and 6- 1). Much of her part was played by the American, who was not a worthy rival or a first round and in less than an hour she said goodbye to court 12.
Chirico came from the previous phase and is 236 in the world. The candy of the raffle, you might think. Badosa did not see it that way. The week before at Eastbourne, in his first contact with the grass, he had fallen against the number 169 in the ranking. Therefore, there would be no concessions or confidence despite the fact that on the other side of the track nothing suggested a surprise.
Badosa showed that the problems in the soleus of her right leg that forced her to leave Roland Garros are overcome. She went all out from the first moment, very reliable when it was her turn to serve and bothering the rest from the beginning. Only the wind played some tricks on him, adding some extra double faults that had no consequences in the game at all.
In the fourth game he already got the first break on the sunny afternoon in London. A host of errors by Chirico at the net, unbecoming of a professional, speeded up the break. Badosa did not lower the bar, and in the next game the rest took the first set, closed horribly by Chirico with a double fault.
Little history had the second set. Badosa took advantage of the dynamic to put ground in the middle from the start and his opponent only seemed to show signs of life at 4-0, when he broke Badosa's serve for the first and only time. It was a mere mirage. He counterattacked the Catalan, denying Chirico any chance of getting into the match and then finishing it off on serve.
One of the few readings that can be made of the match is that Badosa is seen to be in good shape and that she has not come to Wimbledon for a walk. In the next few days she will be able to assess whether she is qualified for something more than the eighth finals achieved last year -she does not have an easy draw-. In a volatile circuit such as the women's circuit, we must add the grass factor that makes everything more unpredictable. At 24 years old, Badosa dreams of doing something big in a major. Will she be in London?
