Friendships in sports are always tricky and Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka know it's the same on the WTA Tour.
It can be sometimes difficult for athletes when the have to play against their good friends. On the field, or a tennis court, no one knows a friend and it's a competition like any other and everyone wants to win. It will be the same in the quarterfinal match at the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart between Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa.
The Belarusian, who isn't afraid to talk about hate she faces in the locker room, and her Spanish friend will meet only for the fourth time on the WTA Tour, with Badosa winning two of the three matches and their last meeting being in Stuttgart last year. When asked about playing Sabalenka who defeated Barbora Krejcikova in the second round, Badosa complimented her upcoming opponent.
"Well, every time we play each other, it's a battle. It's very tough. She's playing unbelievable this year, to be honest. Being very aggressive, serving very well, returning amazing, very intense. I think I just have to be there every point, be very competitive, try to be more aggressive than her, going before her the shots, and yeah, take the opportunity if I have it."
But the reporters weren't interested only in Sabalenka's qualities and how is it to play someone of her caliber, but also how Badosa deals with playing a good friend, and somehow who could be also branded as her best friend on the WTA Tour.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. I mean, I have a very good relationship with a lot of them, and we put aside. In that moment we are very competitive. I think Aryna is the same. In that moment we are not friends. When the last ball finishes, then we are gonna be friends again (smiling)."
Another question was about the dampener that both players use. For quite some time, Badosa uses a dampener in a shape of heart and recently, also Sabalenka started using one. When explaining why, the Spanish player said:
"Yeah, I always played with a heart. So last year in Madrid we played doubles together, and I gave her one of mine. She was, like, This is Wilson? I was, like, Yeah, it's Wilson. You have to ask for it. After so that she's been playing with a heart. Yeah, she copied me, to be honest. (Laughter.)"
Sabalenka experienced the biggest triumph of her career this year in Melbourne and so Badosa was asked also about how she viewed her friend succeed at the Australian Open.
"Yeah, I was very happy for her. We spent the preseason training together. It was a very good preseason in Dubai, and as well in the Dubai exhibition. Yeah, I was following, to be honest, was the only player I was following in Australia because I was injured and it was tough for me to see."
"Right after she won, I text her and I was very happy for her, because I know how much it mean and how much she struggled last year. Yeah, and I know a little bit her story and the fighter she is, and I was really happy for her, to be honest."
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