Berlin Open 2026: Paula Badosa Beats Coco Gauff, Alexandra Eala Defeats Donna Vekic

Paula Badosa walked off the court in tears on Wednesday, and the win behind those tears meant a lot more than just a quarterfinal spot. She beat fifth seed Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in second round at the Berlin Open, snapping a five-match losing streak after a year that had been hijacked by injury.

However, Gauffstarted like that match would end quickly in her favor, racing through the first set 6-1. Her power off the baseline looked exactly like a world number 7 should look like. Then everything changed. Badosa, ranked all the way down at 142 after months sidelined with a back problem, started breaking serve and dictating the rallies herself. She converted four of five break points across the last two sets. Gauff only managed one of two.

“You can see I’m very emotional,” said Badosa after the match. “It’s been very tough. One year ago I got injured here… now seeing myself playing at this level here means a lot.”

That result pushed Badosa's head-to-head record over Gauff to 5-3, her second win over the American this year alone. On court afterward, she couldn't hold it together. She talked about how tough the year had been, both personally and professionally, since getting hurt at this exact tournament twelve months earlier.

For Gauff, the loss extends a rough patch on grass that goes back to last season. After winning the French Open, she didn't win a single match on grass the rest of that year, crashing out in the first round at both Berlin and Wimbledon.

Somewhere else on the grounds, Alexandra Eala kept her own good form going. The Filipina beat Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4 in just under two hours. Vekic had just won Queen's Club days earlier and came in fresh. Didn't matter. Eala saved 12 of the 14 break points Vekic threw at her.

Sportscapefeels that by watching Badosa break down after beating a top-five player says more about this season than any ranking number could. She's outside the top 100 right now. None of that mattered for two sets in Berlin. That's the part of tenniscomebacks people forget to talk about.