From outside Top 70, Paula Badosa revels in Top 10, WTA Finals debut

WATCH: Badosa addresses the crowd after winning her first WTA 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Open.

Spain's Paula Badosa might be the most surprised player at this week's WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Playing her first event of the season at Abu Dhabi ranked No. 70, the 23-year-old wouldn't have guessed she would finish having won her first title in Belgrade, reached the quarterfinals of the Roland Garros, and lifting another trophy at Indian Wells.

"At the beginning of the year, I remember having a conversation with my coach [Jorge García],” Badosa said. "He said, ‘You keep playing like this, for sure you're going to get the Top 30.’ I was like, 'That's impossible,' to finish the year Top 30. Top 50, I [would] sign here. Imagine, I finished the year Top 10. Yeah, I didn't even expect it. Even less expected to be here in the WTA Finals.”

Though Badosa's season got off a tough start with hard quarantine and a COVID-19 diagnosis in Australia, she says she has been playing with more aggression and confidence in her game through the rest of the year.

"I will try not to get emotional, but I've been through a lot. I'm very proud of myself. I think I did a very good year," she said. "It always has been a dream to me to be in Top 10, one of the best players in the world. Now it's coming true."

Her coach García, notes, "She is calm, she is very confident and a very high level."

Now she starts round robin play at the WTA Finals, where Badosa will open against world No. 2 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka.