Podoroska Stuns Badosa to Reach First Career WTA Final in São Paulo

The all-Spanish final that the São Paulo SP Open appeared to be heading towards never arrived. Instead, Nadia Podoroska produced one of the upsets of the WTA clay season, dismantling second-seeded Paula Badosa 6-3, 6-4 in Saturday's semi-final to reach the first WTA final of her career. The Argentine, ranked outside the world's top 300, was relentless from first ball to last and gave the Spanish top-10 player no foothold in either set.

Sunday's final at the SP Open will be Podoroska against Spain's Quevedo, who defeated Anna Blinkova 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the second semi-final. It is the first time two players ranked outside the world's top 100 have contested the São Paulo final in the modern era — and neither has ever stood this close to a WTA trophy before.

Podoroska takes control from the start

There was little in the opening exchanges to suggest an upset was coming. But Podoroska broke Badosa's serve in the third game of the first set and never surrendered that lead. Her heavy topspin forehand dragged Badosa wide repeatedly, and the Argentine's defensive retrieving ability turned pressure into points with a frequency that unbalanced the Spaniard's rhythm. The first set closed 6-3 in around 40 minutes.

In the second, Badosa finally found some consistency and held her own until 4-4. At that point Podoroska broke for a fourth time in the match and served out to 6-4 without a hint of nerves. Badosa, who had been installed as one of the tournament favourites, left the court having offered almost no answer to her opponent's level on the day.

"I have no words," Podoroska said on court immediately after the match. "I've worked so hard to get back to this level. This is what it's all for."

Quevedo stands firm in a three-set battle

Quevedo's path to the final was harder won. The Spaniard controlled the first set 6-4 against Blinkova, who has been competing under French colours this season, but was outplayed in the second as Blinkova levelled with a clinical 6-2 set. The decider went with serve until 5-4, when Quevedo manufactured the break she needed and closed out the match 6-4 to confirm a Sunday final.

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The result maintains Spanish representation in the final despite Badosa's defeat — and sets up a genuinely open contest between an experienced Argentine who has scaled the sport's heights before and a Spanish player still establishing herself in the top tier.

The Podoroska backstory

Podoroska's career has been anything but linear. At 29, she carries the memory of an extraordinary 2020 Roland Garros campaign — where she came through qualifying to reach the semi-finals, one of the most celebrated performances in recent major history — alongside a lengthy injury spell in 2024 that drove her ranking far outside the top 100. Her comeback to the tour has been gradual, and Saturday's win over Badosa represents its most emphatic statement.

Sunday's final at the SP Open offers her a chance to add a WTA title to a résumé that already features one of the great qualifier stories in the sport. Against Quevedo, she will carry both the experience of a player who has been through tennis's extremes and the form of someone who has not dropped a set this week until today's semi-final.