She lives up to her prediction! Paula Badosa makes her debut with a triumph at the Mérida Open 2025

When almost all the favourites had surprisingly fallen, the Spanish Paula Badosa came to restore order in the Mérida Open AKRON 2025 and debuted with a solid victory over the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian by scores of 6-2 and 6-1 in a match that lasted just over an hour.

The second seed of the competition had no major problems in living up to expectations and securing her place in the Quarterfinals. Although Cristian tried to fight her at times, Badosa was extremely aggressive and took advantage of her powerful serves to dominate the Romanian .

During the first set, Jacqueline managed to tie the set 2-2, however, Paula quickly regained the advantage and controlled the conditions of the match at her mercy ; later, for the second set, she won five games in a row and Cristian prolonged her agony by breaking a match point, but on the next serve he did not forgive and finally kept the winning point.

In total, the Spaniard hit eight aces and won 87% of points on her first serve, compared to 44% for the Romanian . With these numbers, Badosa is consolidating her position as a potential favourite to win the title. In the next round she will face Australian Daria Saville.

Badosa feels at home playing in Mexico

"Mexico is the country I'm most excited to play in. I know I'm from Spain, but I've always felt very loved here, I've had some of the best memories of my career, especially in Guadalajara. The fans are very passionate, they treat me incredibly well. I wasn't planning on playing this week, but when I saw that the tournament was being held in Mexico I didn't hesitate to come, " added the Spaniard.