Paula Badosa Gibert (Catalan: [ˈpawlə βəˈðozə ʒiˈβɛɾt]) (born 15 November 1997) is a Spanish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles by the WTA and No. 124 in doubles, achieved on 25 April 2022. She has won four WTA Tour singles titles, including a WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells, and was a major semifinalist at the 2025 Australian Open.
As a junior, Badosa was ranked as high as No. 8 in the world and was the 2015 French Open junior champion. As a professional, she broke into the top 100 in 2019. The next year, a fourth round berth at the French Open brought her into the top 70. Badosa made new strides in 2021 after a breakthrough clay swing when she won her first career title in Belgrade. She entered the top ten following a WTA 1000 title at Indian Wells, and peaked at world No. 2 in early 2022. Subsequent injury struggles led Badosa dropping out of the world's top 100 in early 2024 before resurging in the latter half of the season, returning to the top 15 and being named the Comeback Player of the Year.
Badosa is an aggressive baseliner, whose game style is centered around her big serve and groundstrokes. At 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), she possesses one of the fastest serves on tour, allowing her to dictate rallies, but she is also an athletic counterpuncher, whose defense has enabled her to reach drop shots and cover all angles on the court.
Paula Badosa was born in Manhattan, New York, to Spanish parents Mireia Gibert Baró and Josep Badosa Codolar. Both of her parents worked in fashion. When she was seven, Badosa and her family moved back to Barcelona. She then started playing tennis, at Club Tennis d'Aro (Platja d'Aro). At the age of 14, she moved to Valencia in order to progress in tennis. At the age of 17, she returned to Barcelona.
Besides Spanish, she speaks Catalan, English and a little French. Her favourite tournament is the US Open. Her idols growing up were Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova. Badosa has also said she is a huge admirer of Simona Halep.
When she was a child she aspired to be a model, following her parents' path. She has struggled with depression and anxiety.
Badosa is a former junior world No. 8. She made her debut at the ITF Junior Circuit in September 2012, at the age of 14. In February 2014, she won her first junior singles title at the Grade-1 Mediterranee Avenir in Casablanca. In April 2014, she won the doubles title at a Grade-1 tournament, the Trofeo Juan Carlos Ferrero in Villena. In May 2014, she reached the semifinals of the Grade-A Trofeo Bonfiglio in doubles.
In the junior division of the 2014 French Open, she was able to reach the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles. She then reached the quarterfinals in the juniors division at Wimbledon in singles. She finished runner-up at the European Junior Championships in singles, losing to compatriot Sara Sorribes Tormo, and finished runner–up in doubles. She completed her junior career at the 2015 French Open, where she won the girls' singles title. In juniors she won three singles and one doubles titles on the circuit.
2012–2020: Major main draw and top 100 debuts
Badosa made her debut on the ITF Women's Circuit in May 2012 in Getxo. In November 2013, she won her first title in Sant Jordi.
In March 2015, she made her first breakthrough after receiving a wildcard for the main draw at the Premier Mandatory Miami Open, where she recorded her first two match wins on the WTA Tour. In the third round, she lost to 14th seed Karolína Plíšková. Later, she entered the main draw of the Madrid Open through qualifying, but retired in her first-round match against Sara Errani.
At the 2018 Morocco Open, she reached the quarterfinals and lost to Aleksandra Krunić. In September, she won the 60k Open de Valencia, defeating fellow Spaniard Aliona Bolsova in the final.
At the 2019 Australian Open, she made her major main-draw debut after passing qualifying; she lost to wildcard Kimberly Birrell in the first round. In July, she reached her first WTA Tour semifinal at the Palermo Ladies Open, but then lost to world No. 5, Kiki Bertens. She followed this by reaching the semifinals of the WTA 125 Karlsruhe Open and, as a result, the top 100. At the Korea Open, she advanced to the quarterfinals but then lost to Wang Yafan.
In the early 2020 season, Badosa recorded her first match-win in a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open, defeating qualifier Johanna Larsson in the first round. She then lost to world No. 7, Petra Kvitová. In September, she reached the semifinals at the İstanbul Cup, where she lost to Eugenie Bouchard. Her biggest result of the year was at the French Open, where she reached her first round of 16 at a major. There, she defeated two former Grand Slam champions, Sloane Stephens and Jeļena Ostapenko.
2021: Indian Wells title, Roland Garros quarterfinal, top 10
In May, Badosa reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal at the Madrid Open, making her the first Spanish woman to reach the semifinals in the tournament history, defeating No. 8 seed Belinda Bencic. She faced top seed and world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty, in the semifinals, where Barty got her revenge. As a result, Badosa reached a new career-high of world No. 42.
At the Serbia Open, she reached a third straight clay-court semifinal, defeating seventh seed Rebecca Peterson. As a result, she entered the top 40 for the first time in her career and went on to win her maiden title when Ana Konjuh retired injured in the final.
Initially unseeded at the French Open, she was promoted to seed No. 33 after the withdrawal of Alison Riske. Badosa beat Lauren Davis and Danka Kovinić in straight sets before facing Ana Bogdan. Having saved a match point in the second set, she went on to take the match in three sets to move into the fourth round of the French for the second year in a row. She then faced former finalist and 20th seed Markéta Vondroušová, whom she defeated in three sets to move into the quarterfinals of a major for the first time. Here, despite being up a break in the final set, she fell to Tamara Zidanšek.