Badosa feeling right at home, moves on at Miami Open

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Paula Badosa was midway through an on-court interview after another victory at the Miami Open when a thought crossed her mind.

And given where she is right now, it made a lot of sense.

“Why am I speaking English?” she asked. “I think there’s much more Spanish people than English here.”

A few words in Spanish later, the crowd — always multicultural in the melting pot that is Miami — was roaring in delight. In whatever language, Badosa is through to the fourth round at the Miami Open after rolling past Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday.

It is Badosa’s deepest run at Miami, where there were more than a few fans waving Spanish flags in her honor.

“Muchas gracias,” she said.

Badosa came to Miami — the tournament was played on nearby Key Biscayne then — for the first time in 2015 and made it to the third round while being ranked 419th in the world. She was 222nd when she returned in 2016, then 316th a year later, 130th in 2019 and 71st when she arrived in Miami last year.

But the past 12 months have seen serious change in the world rankings, particularly on the women’s side, and not just after last week’s surprise retirement of Ash Barty — who will come off the rankings April 4 and be replaced by Iga Swiatek as the new No. 1 player in the women’s game.

Depending on how the rest of this tournament goes, Badosa might be poised to climb to No. 2 behind Swiatek when Miami ends. She is a full-fledged star now, even getting the celebrity treatment and her own personalized jersey when she headed to a Miami Heat game a few miles down the road last week.

“I’m really happy about the performance,” Badosa said.

Badosa will meet unseeded Linda Fruhvirtova in the fourth round, after the 16-year-old from the