Retiring after winning matches has become a common occurrence for Badosa across four continents in doubles play.

This week, at the WTA500 Brisbane doubles event, Spanish player Badosa and Belarusian Svitolina narrowly overcame Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai and Russian Samsonova in two tiebreaks during the opening round, but then chose to withdraw before their second-round match. This decision caused a huge uproar on the internet, with increasing numbers of fans criticizing Badosa and Svitolina. In the tennis communities I participate in, many voices echoed this sentiment, and on various social media channels, there were numerous posts denouncing their actions.

In fact, since the start of 2024, it has become routine for Badosa to retire from doubles after winning singles matches. Notably, six of these withdrawals happened after winning the first round but before the second round began. When exactly did these six withdrawals occur, and who were Badosa’s partners during these times? Today, this article will take you through the details.

In mid-April 2024, Badosa teamed up with Tunisian player Jabeur, who had reached three Grand Slam finals, to compete at the WTA500 Stuttgart Open. Despite losing the first set in their opening match, they came back to win two sets and upset the tournament’s third seeds, Ukrainian Nakichenok and Japanese Aoyama. However, before their second-round match, Badosa and Jabeur unexpectedly withdrew.

It is worth noting that their second-round opponents were Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai. After advancing by walkover, Zhang and her American partner Mattek-Sands were decisively defeated in the semifinals by Russia’s Kudermetova and Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching. At the time, few could have predicted that this would only be the beginning of Badosa’s pattern of withdrawing after victories.

In mid-June, Badosa partnered with two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka as a wildcard entry at the WTA500 Berlin tournament. They dominated their first-round opponents, Russian Kromacheva and Aleksandrova, to advance comfortably. Yet again, before the second round, they surprisingly pulled out. Notably, Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai went on to claim the WTA500 Berlin doubles title.

At the end of July, Badosa reunited with Jabeur at the WTA500 Washington event. They edged past the Japanese duo Ninomiya Makoto and Hozumi Eri in a first-round tiebreak. Perhaps accustomed to withdrawing, Badosa and Jabeur once more pulled out before their second-round match. Coincidentally, their would-be opponents—the tournament’s third seeds, Estonian Neel and Norwegian Eikli—also withdrew before the semifinals. It seems that withdrawals might indeed be contagious.

In late September, Badosa changed partners to Czech player Muchova, who had previously reached a Grand Slam final. They swept past Russian Kromacheva and Kazakhstani Danilina in the first round of the China Open. Before their second-round match, Badosa and Muchova announced their withdrawal. This marked Badosa’s fourth time in the 2024 season withdrawing before the second round after winning the first round. Their opponents, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Kudermetova, advanced all the way to the final without playing that match.

Time went on, and Badosa’s withdrawals continued. At the start of the 2025 season, she and Jabeur battled through three sets to defeat the tournament’s fourth seeds, Chinese player Guo Hanyu and Russian Panova, at the WTA500 Brisbane event. Yet again, before the second round, Badosa and Jabeur withdrew. This was already Jabeur’s third time withdrawing alongside Badosa.

Including the withdrawal mentioned at the beginning of this article, since 2024, Badosa has withdrawn six times before the second round after winning her opening match. Does this frequent pattern of retirement affect the fairness of the tournaments? What do you, the netizens, think? That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)