Paula Badosa knows how to make quick work of a tennis speedster.
Badosa raced through eight straight games dismissing Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-0 at the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday.
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The 26th-seeded Spaniard scored her third straight-sets win in four meetings vs. world No. 4 Gauff.
“She’s a very good, she plays amazing when she’s defending,” Badosa said of Gauff. “She’s very fast. She has crazy backhand, very good serve, especially first serves.
“I just try to return her every ball to make her play one more. Sometimes when she feels she doesn’t have free points on the serve, she starts to serve a little bit worse.”
Former world No. 2 Badosa cites two simple reasons why she’s maintained mastery of the Roland Garros runner-up:
1. Badosa attacks the teenager’s weaker forehand wing with variety, not just pounding away with pace, the Spaniard sometimes makes Gauff generate her own off the forehand.
2. Badosa believes putting as many returns back as possible, rather than trying to rip return winners, puts cumulative pressure on the American.
“Of course going more to her forehand, most because her backhand is very good, and when you have like the spot there, you just go there, but I just tried to go to her forehand,” Badosa said. “Yeah, sometimes just give it to her and make her like do more what she can.
“And, yeah, that’s a little bit the tactic that I can say now. I hope she doesn’t read it.”
Photo credit: BNP Paribas Open Facebook
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