Paula Badosa drops out of the Rome tournament at the last minute.

The Spanish squad in the women's draw at the Rome Masters tennis tournament has been significantly reduced following the withdrawal of Paula Badosa shortly before her tournament debut against Naomi Osaka, scheduled for this Thursday at 11:00 a.m. The Spaniard will not compete in the WTA 1000 clay-court tournament after being unable to recover in time from a back injury, according to the organizers.

The physical problems she is suffering from have finally put an end to the Spanish tennis player's participation in the Foro Italico, where she started as the ninth seed and was due to face the Japanese player after the latter defeated the Italian Sara Errani in the previous round.

Rome is the second consecutive WTA 1000 event she has missed, having also had to withdraw from the Mutua Madrid Open due to the same physical problems.

The exact extent of Badosa's injury, ranked number 10 in the WTA rankings, has not been revealed, but it remains to be seen whether the Spaniard can return to the courts in Strasbourg or whether she prefers to recover and then head straight to the Parisian clay of Roland Garros , a tournament that starts on May 25.

Badosa's goal is to reach the second Grand Slam of the season fully recovered from her injury.