Paula BADOSA

In 2020, she made her first real breakthrough at the French Open where she upset former Slam winners Sloane Stephens and Jelena Ostapenko on her way to the last 16. She showed her affinity for clay again the following year as she beat Belinda Bencic to reach the semi-finals of the Madrid Open where she fell to world number one Ashleigh Barty.

Two weeks later, she claimed her first WTA Tour title at the Serbia Open in Belgrade before reaching the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros.

Badosa was starting to show her adeptness on hard courts as well as dirt, and beat Iga Swiatek on her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. However, she struggled with the heat and humidity in the Japanese capital and was forced to retire from her quarter-final against Marketa Vondrousova.

The Spaniard soon picked up the winning thread again and, in October, she defeated Victoria Azarenka in the Indian Wells final to secure her first WTA 1000 title and break into the world's top 10.

At the start of 2022, Badosa beat French Open champion Barbora Krejcíkova in Sydney to clinch her third career title. After Barty's retirement, she reached number two in the world rankings before enduring a run of poor form compounded by injuries.

In May 2023, Badosa revealed she had a spinal stress fracture that would keep her out of the French Open. At Roland-Garros, she was spotted watching Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas with the pair subsequently announcing they were in a relationship. She came back to play Wimbledon but then sat out the rest of the year.

Badosa's 2024 has been disrupted by injuries with her future tennis career deemed "complicated" by doctors. Requiring regular pain-killing cortisone injections in her back, the 26-year-old has been told she only has a few more years left in the sport. In May 2024, she and Tsitsipas announced that they were no longer a couple but that they would remain friends.