Gauff, Jabeur, Tsitsipas and more show love for Paula Badosa after she wins in Washington, D.C.

Paula Badosa's return to the winner's circle over the weekend was a sight for sore eyes.

The former world No. 2 captured her fourth career WTA singles title with a hard-fought 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Marie Bouzkova in a rain-delayed final of the Mubadala Citi DC Open—a meaningful win in more ways than one.

Badosa's triumph, her first since a 2022 win in Sydney, Australia, came less than a year after doctors told her that she might never play tennis again, as a fracture in her back curtailed her 2023 season, sent her tumbling out of the Top 100 and left her needing cortisone injections just to function. The culmination of her effort in the U.S. capital, where she also beat two Grand Slam winners in Sofia Kenin and Emma Raducanu, plus a former tournament champion in Liudmila Samsonova, caught the eye of her fellow touring pros and rivals—even during a jam-packed weekend of tennis that saw historic Olympic victories for Novak Djokovic and Zheng Qinwen.

Her boyfriend, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, jumped into Badosa's Instagram comments as she celebrated with her trophy to label her as a "badass," while WTA peers including Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur were also among those who showered her with love.

Read more: 'Proud' Stefanos Tsitsipas shares sweet moment with Paula Badosa after Wimbledon win

"Bravo, chica," Jabeur, who has made no secret of her burgeoning close friendship with the Spaniard, wrote. "Happy for you!"

Earlier in the week, Badosa opened up to the WTA's Greg Garber about the tough decision to skip the Paris Olympics, but it was one that paid off: Her D.C. win puts her back in the Top 50 in the WTA rankings this week for the first time in nearly a full year.

"One year ago I was on the couch," Badosa said post-match, "so it's a big difference now. Now I'm an athlete again."

But the choice, driven by health reasons, was also in part emblematic of something that Badosa has shown in her last 12 months of struggle: the inclination to back herself. In addition to that unwavering self-belief and determination, Badosa said the thing that kept her going was her family and Tsitsipas (whom she split with after a year of dating in May, only for the pair to reconcile just prior to Roland Garros).

She rewarded that loyalty with a post-match FaceTime call to them courtside, after she celebrated her victory by kissing the Rock Creek Park playing surface and tearfully embracing her traveling support team.

Read more: 'She is my person': Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas are back together

"They've been in the tough moments," she said. "They've seen me very, very down this last year. I wanted to live the moments with them because of course without them I wouldn't be here because they support me every day, 24/7.

"There was moments that I didn't know what to do with my career. They were there. I knew they were following, they were watching the match, so I wanted to call them."