Paula Badosa's summer resurgence continues at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. Ranked No.62 after suffering a stress fracture in her back last year, the former World No.2 advanced to her first final in over two years after defeating Caroline Dolehide 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals in Washington D.C. on Saturday. 

Badosa will face either No.3 Aryna Sabalenka or Marie Bouzkova for the title on Sunday. A win would net the 26-year-old Spaniard her first Hologic WTA Tour title since 2022 Sydney.

Badosa opted to skip the Olympics to save her last protected ranking entry for the US Open, and the decision has paid off this week. Just two months ago, Badosa was ranked outside the Top 100 and unsure about the future of her career. After hitting her career-high ranking at No.2 in 2022, Badosa was sidelined for over six months last year as she dealt with her back injury.

Badosa began to turn her season around during the clay season, starting with a run to the Round of 16 in Rome. Then, at Wimbledon, she made the second week of a Slam for the first time since 2022. Now, she will leave America's capital inside the Top 50 for the first time since August of last year.

Must See

Into the main draw as a wild card, Badosa's tournament debut has included wins over Sofia Kenin, Emma Raducanu, and No.3 seed Liudmila Samsonova, who was forced to retired due to illness. Badosa's physical win over Raducanu in the quarterfinals earned her a spot in her first semifinal since 2023. She is now bidding to be the second wild card champion this season, following in Jelena Ostapenko's footsteps in Linz. 

To unwind Dolehide, who had notched her first Top 20 win of the year over Daria Kasatkina in the second round, Badosa's serve proved pivotal. It was the shot that paid dividends against Raducanu 24 hours earlier, and once again, the Spaniard proved difficult to break. She won 89 percent of her first serves and over 50 percent of her second serves, saving all three break points she faced.

More to come...