Paula Badosa has identified one big reason behind her slow start to the year and that's struggling with her serve, which is one of her greatest assets.
The Spaniard, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open last year, had a disappointing run in Melbourne this year after picking up a shock 4-6 4-6 second-round loss to 101st-ranked qualifier Oksana Salekhmetova.
During the match, Badosa sprayed six double faults, won only 60 percent of her first serve points and 45 percent of her second serve points. Also, the four-time WTA champion faced 11 break points and lost her serve five times.
When the Australian Open started, Badosa was ranked at No. 26 in the world. Now, after failing to defend a large chunk of points at Melbourne Park, the 28-year-old is set for a significant ranking drop as she will be ranked outside the top-60 when the WTA rankings list updates.
Badosa: I've not been felling great with my serve lately… I'll return home and work on it
"It was a bit windy and that was impacting my serve a little," the former world No. 2 told FlashScore after her exit.
"I’ve not been feeling great with my serve lately, and it’s one of my best shots so I’ll have to go home and keep working on it. Hopefully in the next tournaments it starts working again.”
“I think (the wind) was (hard) for both of us, so I have to be fair there. It definitely wasn’t helping me. Playing a lefty, she did everything really well with the angles and made me uncomfortable from the beginning.”
Overall, it was a disappointing Australian swing for Badosa, who concluded it with a 2-3 record. prior to the Australian Open, the Spanish tennis player had a round-of-16 outing in Brisbane and also lost her opener in Adelaide.
Badosa will hope to turn the page in February's Middle East swing.
