Badosa's Bad Bunny obsession hits fever pitch after Super Bowl performance
Iga Swiatek is a Swiftie. Coco Gauff is in the Beyhive. And Paula Badosa wants you to know that she's been in Los Conejos from the beginning.
Former World No. 2 Badosa didn't get a chance to catch Bad Bunny's viral Super Bowl halftime show performance live last weekend -- but ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Spaniard couldn't stop gushing about it.
Watching the 31-year-old Grammy winner deliver a performance watched live by an average of more than 128 million viewers -- and accumulated 4 billion hits across social media, according to Variety -- was a full-circle moment, she said.
"On tour, I was always Bad Bunny, Bad Bunny since years ago," she said. "So I'm a big, big fan. He's one of my favorite artists. The last three, four years, he's been my No. 1 artists in the wrap-up we do at the end of the year."
"The message he sent, it was important for the world," she added about the performance's culminating moment -- when the Puerto Rican rapper, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, delivered a powerful message of unity. As he listed off countries of the Americas, a billboard behind him declared that "the only thing more powerful than hate is love."
But Badosa also has a message for the man himself. She wants to catch him live during his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour, saying she's "addicted" to listening to the artist's fifth studio album.
"I love it. I love the rhythm. I love what it says," she said -- and also joked she hoped he might personally reward her for her loyal fandom.
"I'm already trying to arrange for your concerts, but you're sold out everywhere. But I'm going to try to make it happen. ... I'm really looking forward to seeing you," she said. "I really love the message you share with the world, and everything you're creating."