Good friends Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa will play against each other at the 2024 Miami Open, which will be a tough match in many ways.
Sabalenka lost her partner in Miami, ahead of the WTA 1000 tournament. Still, the Belarusian, despite the tragedy that she endured, will play at the event. She was spotted practicing and hasn't pulled out yet.
It will be a very tough situation for her, but at least she's going to play against one of her closest friends. That might give her some comfort during these testing times.
Badosa scored a pretty good win in the opening round over Simona Halep, though for a brief moment, it looked like she might lose the match. She's had her own set of struggles in recent times, so getting a few wins would help her to regain confidence.
Badosa and Sabalenka have played several times in the past, with the H2H score being 2-2. The last match they played was last year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which Sabalenka was able to win, albeit barely.
Badosa won both of their hard-court matches. Stylistically, it promises to be a match where players trade blows, and a lot of it will depend on how focused Sabalenka is.
| Aryna Sabalenka | Paula Badosa | |
| 2 | H2H | 2 |
| 2 | Rank | 80 |
| 25 | Age | 26 |
| 13-3 | 2024 W/L | 5-5 |
| 373-177 | Career W/L | 329-186 |
It's a tricky matchup to predict because we can't really know how the world no. 2 feels on the court. Maybe she will be completely distracted, but maybe she will be focused.
We don't know, and the matchup will largely depend on her. I'm going to take a guess and believe that she'll be very inspired to do well and beat her friend in this match.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in two sets.