Aryna Sabalenka will be playing in the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semifinals after beating good friend Paula Badosa.
Obviously, there are no friendships on the tennis court as every player wants to win and advance. It's no different when two players are very good friends, such as two WTA stars Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa. The Spanish player talked about it before the match, when she said:
"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)."
The two players met three times before, with Badosa winning two of the matches, and she wanted to follow up on those wins in Stuttgart, as she lost their last meeting in this very city 12 months ago.
Badosa started well in the first set as she broke early, already in the third game. She won 71% of points after her first serve and 67% of points when she had to use her second serve, and so it was not a problem for the Spanish player to serve out the set, winning it 6-4.
The world no. 31 wanted to follow up on a first-set victory in the second set, and she managed to do that in the best way possible. Badosa broke Sabalenka's serve to love in the first game, and confirmed it with a hold.
However, winning the second set wasn't an easy task for the Spaniard. Badosa faced a break point in the sixth game and despite saving that, she couldn't save another in the eighth game as Sabalenka broke back.
After the break, the Belarusian added one more to win the second set 6-4 and take the match into a decider. If the fans in Stuttgart were delighted by the first two sets, they must have been going crazy during the third set as two good friends delivered a great show.
Almost every game in the deciding set went through a deuce as players battled for every point. Sabalenka went into a one-break lead twice, but every time Badosa was able to come back.
However, when the Belarusian broke her opponent in the tenth game of the third set, her opponent had no time to react as break points in that game were also match points for Sabalenka, who won the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 31 minutes. She will await the winner of the match between the fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia and Anastasia Potapova in the next round.
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