From the historic semifinal at Roland Garros to the fight for the qualification at Wimbledon: what happened to Nadia Podoroska

In October 2020, in an atypical edition of Roland Garros marked by the pandemic, Nadia Podoroska is experiencing the best moment of her sports career: she reached her first semifinals in a Grand Slam (she lost in two sets against the Polish Iga Swiatek, later champion) and made history by becoming the first player to come out of qualifiers to reach that instance on French brick dust. That result allowed him to jump 83 positions in the standings, from 131st to 48th and enter the top 50 for the first time). And she earned him, at the end of that season, the award as “Revelation of the year” of the WTA. Today Rosario lives in a very different present. Because this Tuesday she will play the first qualifying round at Wimbledon, in which she will clash with the American asia mohammed167 °.

What happened between that unforgettable performance in Paris and this debut in qualifying for the “great” Brit? What’s the reason bassoon Argentina? An injury difficult for her to identify – today she knows that it is a proximal tendinopathy of the hamstrings of the right leg – and which forced her to a long and tiring recovery; but that failed to break her spirit.

“Now I’m ready to go back. “said the santafesina, 177th in the world, three days ago in a publication on her Instagram account, in which she is seen very smiling, dressed in soft, on a grass field.

Podoroska’s nightmare began in March 2021, when he was competing in Guadalajara, in which he lost in the second round. The small, then 46th in the WTA, had started his season without great results (the quarter-finals of a tournament played in Melbourne, ahead of the Australian Open, had been his best production in the first two months of the year) and wanted to to be the protagonist again on Mexican soil. But there he began to feel discomfort in the hamstringwho at first thought it was more pain than usual.

“I don’t know if I can identify an exact moment when I said ‘I have a serious injury’. It was a pain that started very progressive. I thought it was a contracture, something very light. I was playing in Guadalajara and started going to the tournament kinesiologist to treat mild and common pain. Then it got worse and worse, “she told her in December in a video she shared on Twitter.

Despite not being physically one hundred percent, Podoroska decided not to stop. That’s how she competed, without shining, sometimes with more and sometimes with less pain, for most of the season. He reached, for example, the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 Romewas far from repeating his performance at Roland Garros (he lost on his debut), reached the second round of Wimbledon and the round of 16 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic tournament and also fell in the first round of the US Open.

Despite not having achieved great results, it still climbed a little higher in the rankings, helped a little by that special system that had been applied due to the coronavirus emergency and which was still in place at the time. And on July 12, after crossing the AELTCappeared in 36th place in the rankings, his best historical position, which he held for a week.

But after his defeat in Flushing Mewsspoke to his team and decided not to play again until the pain subsided.

“I went through different stages of different aches and pains. At first it was a little bit in the hamstring, then in the hip, then it got to my back or sciatic nerve. This made it difficult to identify the injury, but it did allowed to continue playing and training. Even if in the long run I could train less and less. Until I had to stop, “said Rosario.

The defeat in the first round of New York against the Belgian Say hello to Minnen, 104th in the standings, was his last official match. At that time, Podoroska was the 37th place in the world. But with no shares in the last months of the year, he finished 2021 in 84th position.

In December, she said she was “very motivated” because her recovery was progressing well and that her goal was to return to the Australian hardcourt tour in January 2022. But a few weeks later, she announced that she would not be playing in Melbourne. Her absence from ocean tournaments cost her a place in the top 100: on January 31st she appeared in 112th place.

“Even though I’ve learned to live and compete with pain during this time, the recovery process to heal my body definitely takes longer,” he explained. And she shared the new plan: go back in March.

At the beginning of April, however, he confessed: “I continue to work hard, every day, to compete again. This is what I want most at this time of my day. It is not an easy goal. The injury was followed by several discomforts. it dragged on and that’s why I couldn’t go back in the time I expected “.

Optimistic as ever, he still chose to look at the glass half full. “I always try to get the best out of not so good experiences. When I look around, I find people who want this wish come true as much as I do. I know they are always there. The commitment of each of them strengthens me and gives me the certainty that we will reach it “, he reflected.

Podoroska never lowered her arms and continued to work. Even when her recovery forced her to leave the Grand Slam of France, that special tournament for her, which had already dropped to 143rd place in the standings.

“I miss Roland Garros, one of my favorite tournaments, but every day I am one step closer to the return. There is no date yet but I am very impatient and work. There is even less to do,” he wrote on Twitter on May 21, along with a video of her dancing on brick dust.

A few days later, she broke out of the top 150 (158th appeared). But she was right, it was less to compete again. On June 4th she announced that she would play an Interclube in Stuttgart, Germany, which, not being an official tournament, gave him no points, but it was her first step.

“How nice to hear it again! I started going back“, he commented, happy, after the debut.” I am very happy to be back on a field in competition mode after so many months. I had been away for a long time. Being here is already a goal “.

And a few days ago he said that qualifying for Wimbledon would mark his return to the professional circuit and that the wait was over. In the end.