Badosa Survives 9 Match Points in 15-Hour US Open Marathon: 'I Trained My Body to Play on an Empty Stomach'

Paula Badosa walked into the press conference at 2 a.m., dark circles under her eyes but a smile still on her lips. She had just spent nearly 15 hours at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center — the longest day of the former World No. 2's career. The result: a 6-1, 7-6(7) victory over Daria Kasatkina, but the journey to that win was far from simple as the scoreline suggested. The match was interrupted by rain when Badosa was leading 6-1, 5-4, 40-40 with three match points in hand. She left the court at 11:30 p.m., arrived at the hotel at midnight, and couldn't sleep. "I tried meditation, tried breathing exercises. But nothing worked," she shared. "The tension was on another level." When the match resumed the next morning, Badosa had to save six more match points before closing it out with an ace on her ninth match point. She admitted her warm-up was subpar: "I didn't want a full warm-up not knowing how long I'd be on court. I trained my body to play on an empty stomach." This victory is a bright spot in Badosa's challenging comeback journey. Just months ago, she fell to No. 141 in the world after a stretch of seven losses in nine matches. But she has won 9 of her last 10 matches — including two titles at Bastad (WTA 125) and Iasi (WTA 250) on clay — to climb to No. 87. "I knew I had to win 9 of 10 matches to get direct entry into the US Open main draw," she said. "I handled that pressure." Numbers are just seasoning. People are the main course. And Badosa's story at this year's US Open is the clearest proof of that. She demonstrated elite resilience, but also exposed a problem: inefficient match-closing. Needing nine match points to close a first-round match at a Grand Slam is a concerning signal, especially when the next opponent is Coco Gauff — the No. 4 seed and 2026 US Open champion. The analytics department's darling eventually has to stand on her own two feet. Badosa leads Gauff 5-3 in their head-to-head, including a three-set win in Berlin this summer. But that was before she endured 15 hours on court, a sleepless night, and a match that stretched to exhaustion. Gauff will have home-court advantage at Arthur Ashe — a court Badosa admits she loves. "I know Gauff well, I know how they'll play," she confidently declared. That confidence could be a double-edged sword. Spreadsheets don't know what desire is, and let's not pretend otherwise. Data shows Badosa had only one match in the two months before the US Open — the Iasi title in July. She played no hard-court lead-up event. This "under-cooked" status was evident in the extended match with Kasatkina, and it's a typical injury and fatigue risk pattern. The Russian night was hot, and the only lesson that remains is silence. For Badosa, the lesson from this match is that she needs to close matches faster when she has the chance. Nine match points is too many, especially against a defensive specialist like Kasatkina. If she lets Gauff drag the match into long rallies, the physical advantage will shift entirely to the home favorite. The match against Gauff will be the most important test of Badosa's comeback ambitions. A win would re-establish her as a formidable top-20-level player — far beyond her current No. 87 ranking. A loss would pause the "comeback" story until the Asian swing. Whatever the outcome, Badosa has proven one thing: she's still here, still fighting, and still believing in herself. The question is whether that resilience is enough to overcome one of the best young players in the world, right on her home court?