Badosa defeats Kontaveit, faces Kanepi next

Paula Badosa and Anett Kontaveit were neck and neck in the WTA singles rankings back in May. Badosa reached No. 2 in late April and Kontaveit joined her just six weeks after that. However, Kontaveit was sick with Covid-19 halfway through the year and Badosa finished just 3-9.

But on Tuesday at the Adelaide International 2, Badosa, now No. 11 and Kontaveit, now No. 17 faced each other in the first round.

Badosa vs Kontaveit: Aggressive players

Badosa had a 72% success rate on her second serves while Kontaveit only won 27%. The game ended in a 6-4, 6-3 victory for Badosa, who gave up just two points at the service line in the opening set.

“She is a great player,” said Badosa of her competition, Kontaveit. “I was expecting a really tough game. She’s a player who likes to play with rhythm, very consistent, big points, how I like to play, too.”

“So what I tried to do is be aggressive, try to lessen the points a little more, play really well, and I’m really happy with what I was able to do.”

Badosa to face Kaia Kanepi

Badosa will look to continue her victory march when she faces Kontaveit’s compatriot, No. 32 Kaia Kanepi on Wednesday. Kanepi made it through the qualifying stages to then beat Storm Hunter, 6-2, 6-2.

“Kanepi is a player who does well against higher-ranked players, so it’s going to be a tough game,” said Badosa. “She has really strong hits, really aggressive. So I’m going to try to be aggressive first, and fight until the end.”

The match between Badosa and Kanepi will take place at 4 p.m. local time in the second round at Adelaide.