For Paula Badosa, the 2025 season turned into a complete nightmare. After starting the year with promise, her ongoing back problems once again derailed her momentum. And now, as the 28-year-old kicked off her 2026 campaign, the bad luck followed her to Melbourne.

After an opening win over Zarina Diyas at the Australian Open, her run came to a sudden halt in the second round, where she fell 6-4, 6-4 to Oksana Selekhmeteva. The loss is a painful one, as it will see the former world No. 2 drop out of the Top 60 after the tournament.Naturally, Badosa didn’t hide her disappointment when she faced the media.

“I’m not happy, obviously. I think she deserves credit, of course, but I also believe that I have done things to deserve this defeat. I haven’t played great tennis, I’m finding it a bit hard to feel like myself, but I guess it’s part of the process,” she admitted in her post-match press conference.

Meanwhile, Selekhmeteva made sure to savor a breakthrough moment. The 23-year-old world No. 101 sealed the win with a stunning angled backhand pass at the net, then dropped to her knees in celebration as she reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

It’s a result that’s been a long time coming for the former Top 10 junior, who is also a two-time girls’ doubles Grand Slam champion, winning the 2019 US Open with Kamilla Bartone and the 2021 French Open with Alexandra Eala. However, for Paula Badosa, this moment is about trying to find herself again.

After spending the final third of last season sidelined by injury, she’s now focused on rediscovering the level that once carried her to the Australian Open semifinals in 2025.

“I’m fine in that aspect [physically], the body is responding well, which is good news. Ultimately, after all, that’s the most important thing, so I have to stick with that. Now what I need is to keep playing several matches in a row to feel like myself again as soon as possible,” she assured the media.

Badosa also made it clear that her motivation hasn’t gone anywhere: “Obviously, this season has just begun, my hopes are still intact, the same objectives remain. Right now, I’m far from them; when I’m competing, I still feel far from that desired level. I see myself better in training, that’s true, so hopefully, I can soon translate it to competition matches.”

Unfortunately, this battle with her own body has been a constant theme in Badosa’s career since 2023.

That year at the US Open, she was set to face Venus Williams in the first round, but her tournament ended before it could even begin. Badosa was forced to withdraw because of a chronic back injury she first suffered at the Rome Open. The injury worsened at Wimbledon and ultimately ruled her out of not just the US Open, but the rest of the 2023 season.

And the struggle didn’t stop there. Across both 2024 and 2025, injuries continued to disrupt her momentum, repeatedly forcing the Spaniard to step away from tournaments and putting her career on an exhausting stop-start cycle.

What’s really behind Paula Badosa’s difficult start to the season

Coming into the match, Paula Badosa was considered one of the WTA’s best servers, hitting 122mph. But that strength never really showed in her opening set against Selekhmeteva.

She landed just 47% of her first serves and won only 53% of those points. Although her numbers improved a bit as the match went on, it wasn’t enough to turn things around.

The conditions didn’t make life any easier. Unseasonably cold winds swept across the court, and Badosa admitted they played a role in her struggles. “It was a bit windy and that was impacting my serve a little,” Badosa said.

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Still, she was quick to point out that the problem runs deeper than just one blustery afternoon. “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.”

Badosa also gave credit to her opponent and the tricky matchup. “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.”

With the early loss, her live ranking dropped from No. 26 to No. 66 (a number that could still change) but it means she’ll have plenty of work ahead when the tour moves to the Middle East in February.