Paula Badosa planned a fake birthday for Aryna Sabalenka, who was visibly amused by restaurant employees who put the plan in motion. There was a cake, there were balloons… well, everything for a cozy little fake birthday.
No way Badosa planned a fake birthday in a restaurant for Sabalenka lmao 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/7HXmNFvFzR – LorenaPopa ️♀️🎾 (@popalorena) October 18, 2022
In reality, Sabalenka was born on May 5, 1998.
Badosa on her battle with anxiety
Although Paula Badosa shows her fun side by hosting Badosa’s fake birthday, she acknowledges that the sheer amount of pressure and expectation made her feel uncomfortable and depressed early in her career.
«They said, I’m the next Maria Sharapova. I was very young and I wasn’t ready to hear all that. It was super big, with a lot of expectations and pressure. People were looking at me wherever I played and waiting for me.» winning every game was too much for me.
I remember, a few years I had depression and a lot of anxiety. I was dealing with a lot of mental health issues. My head wasn’t set up to listen to all those things and compete,» Badosa said in a conversation with the WTA titled «The Real Me.»
Badosa added: «Maybe I wasn’t even mature enough to know how to deal with all those emotions at the time. I struggled a lot for a few years, maybe 2-3 years was too hard for me. I wasn’t even moving up the rankings and I was losing a lot.
It was very difficult for me to have a routine every day because I was feeling very bad and I was also struggling with injuries. When you have mental problems, even your body does not feel good. I remember that even normal things in life were very difficult for me.
The first thing you want to do when you come home is go out with friends or go to the movies or do other things, go shopping. I was staying home alone, struggling and dealing with myself, being very negative.
I didn’t see a way out of it.»
