Paula Badosa sends her love to Aryna Sabalenka as she celebrates Cincinnati Open triumph with fun trophy photoshoot, Belarusian responds in kind
Aryna Sabalenka celebrated her Cincinnati Open win with a trophy photoshoot, prompting a heartfelt reaction from her close friend and fellow tennis player, Paula Badosa. The Spaniard's reaction then elicited a warm reply from the Belarusian.
Sabalenka had been sidelined over a month due to injury, missing Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics. However, she returned to action at the start of the North American hard-court swing, reaching the semifinals of the Citi Open and the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open.
Sabalenka then competed at the Cincinnati Open and reached the final after defeating Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Elina Svitolina, Liudmila Samsonova and Iga Swiatek. She then defeated Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 to win her first title since the Australian Open in January. It was also the Belarusian's sixth WTA 1000 triumph.
After her victory, Sabalenka posed for a trophy photoshoot in a stunning black gown. The 26-year-old later shared the pictures on Instagram.
"Cincinnati, I love you!" Sabalenka wrote
Paula Badosa commented with a series of emojis to express her joy, and Sabalenka delightedly replied with heart emojis.
Badosa and Sabalenka have faced one another thrice so far in the 2024 season, with the latter winning all of them. Overall, the Belarusian has a 5-2 lead over her friend.
Aryna Sabalenka's unexpected gaffe during the Cincinnati Open victory speech left everyone in splits
Aryna Sabalenka not only impressed with her incredible performance in the Cincinnati Open final, but she also had everyone, including her boyfriend, in stitches due to an unexpected debacle.
While thanking her boyfriend, Georgios Frangulis during her victory speech, she mistakenly referred to him as "boyfriends" before quickly correcting herself. Earlier in the speech, she had expressed gratitude to her team for their unwavering support.
"Last but not the least, I want to thank my team, um, yeah, you guys we've been through a lot but we never stop working, never stop improving and I'm really to have you by my side," Sabalenka said [ at 1:16]
"Special thank you to my boyfriends... boyfriend, I said 'boyfriends' oh my god, that's my terrible English guys. Thank you to my boyfriend for keeping me happy everyday, thank you," she added.
With her victory over Pegula, Sabalenka improved her season record to 39-11. The 26-year-old will also surpass Coco Gauff and regain the No. 2 spot in the WTA Rankings heading into the U.S. Open, where she was the runner-up last year.