Aryna Sabalenka & Paula Badosa radiate "friendship vibes" at WTL with combined dance session; Belarusian's boyfriend watches on in amusement
Aryna Sabalenka and Paul Badosa are enjoying a great time together at the World Tennis League. Both players are representing Team Kites in the tournament.
Sabalenka is coming off her career-best season in 2023. The Belarusian star won her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, incidentally where she had won her first doubles Grand Slam, coming back from a set down to defeat Elena Rybakina in the finals. Sabalenka also became the World No. 1 during the season and reached a semifinal or better in all four Grand Slams. She was also named the women's ITF World Champion for 2023.
Meanwhile, Badosa hasn't managed to find the same success as her friend this season. The Spaniard has been sidelined with injuries for the majority of the season. Her only Grand Slam appearance came at Wimbledon this year where she was forced to retire in the second round due to injury.
Sabalenka and Badosa are playing for the Kites at the World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi. The team also includes Grigor Dimitrov and Badosa's boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas. The two women started their campaign by grabbing a win against the Eagles' Sofia Kenin and Mirra Andreeva, 6-3.
In a recent story reposted by Aryna Sabalenka on her Instagram, the duo can be seen dancing to The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back". In the video, the Belarusian can be seen exchanging glances with her boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov before turning back to Badosa to share a laugh.
"friendship vibes 👯," the fan had captioned the original post.
Paula Badosa gleefully reshared Sabalenka's story on her own account.
Have Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa faced each other on the court?
Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa have faced off against each other four times in their career. Both of them have won two matches each. While Badosa won the first two matches (both on hard courts), Sabalenka has won their recent two meetings (both on clay).
The duo's first meeting came in the second round of the 2021 Cincinnati Open, where Badosa came back from behind to win the match in three sets. Both of them next met each other in the round-robin stage in their WTA Finals debut in 2021. Badosa won the match in straight sets.
The next time the two met was at the Stuttgart Open in 2022. Sabalenka won the semifinals in straight sets. Their latest meeting came in 2023, in the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Open, where Sabalenka emerged victorious coming back from a set down to win.