Indian Wells (USA), 18 Mar Not hiding her disappointment at being on the verge of a new final in Indian Wells, Paula Badosa assumed after her loss this Friday in the semifinals that she did not play her “best tennis” and accepted that the Greek Maria Sakkari was superior on the court. “First of all I want to congratulate Maria. He deserves this victory very much. He played a great game. I didn't play my best tennis but the credit for it goes to her because it was her fault that I didn't play so well,” she explained to the media. Sakkari, stronger than Badosa for most of the night, beat the Spaniard 6-2, 4-6 and 6-1 in one hour and 48 minutes. The reigning Indian Wells champion was aiming for a historic double in the Californian desert that Martina Navratilova won only in 1990 and 1991. Asked what she would have liked to do better in her semifinal match, Badosa was very clear in her answer. “Everything,” he said. “I think I didn't serve well, I wasn't good with the wreckage either, at the bottom of the track I was failing too much and I wasn't being aggressive. But she played really well. He served well, he moved very well, he played very fast and didn't give me time to build my points”, he developed. Specifically, Badosa said that in the first and third sets he tried to hold on to the match against the great level of his rival. “From the beginning I didn't have the best feeling. Sometimes you don't have those feelings and the only option you have is to keep fighting. That's what I tried to do and that's why I was a little more emotional (than usual) because I was angry that I couldn't play my tennis,” he said. Despite his defeat, Badosa took good stock of his participation in Indian Wells and stressed that he has played at “a very good level” and that he has shown “his competitive spirit”. “I am happy with how I defended the title. Obviously I am sad now and I see everything negative, but I guess that tomorrow I will see it better and more positively,” he said before stressing that his next challenge will be starting next week at the Masters 1000 in Miami. CHIEF dvp/og (photo)
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