Aryna Sabalenka funnily responded to Paula Badosa and Ons Jabeur’s banter as the two-time Grand Slam champion joked that her friendship with the Spaniard is now over.
This week, all three Sabalenka, Badosa and Jabeur are competing at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. At the start of the week, Badosa called the Jabeur her best friend. As you probably already know well, Sabalenka and Badosa are very close friends and they often refer to each other as “soulmates.”
But in a video for the Stuttgart tournament, Jabeur and Badosa could be seen together when the Tunisian had something she wanted to ask the Spaniard.
“Very important question, because everybody wants to know, who is your best friend on tour?” Jabeur asked.
Badosa quickly replied: “You!”
Jabeur then excitingly shouted: “Send me the tape! Send me!”
Badosa and Jabeur teasing Sabalenka quickly drew attention as the Tunisian also posted the video on her Instagram Story – tagged Sabalenka – and said she was sorry to see her lose her best friend.
Sabalenka funnily responded: “Ok bye @paulabadosa. You lost me now!!!!”
Paula Badosa and Ons Jabeur© Aryna Sabalenka/Ons Jabeur – Instagram
What Badosa and Sabalenka really think about each other?
Over the last few years, Badosa, 26, and 25-year-old Sabalenka have several times made it perfectly clear what they think about each other. During the offseason, Badosa and Sabalenka even played doubles together during the World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi. That’s when Badosa described Sabalenka as “my closest friend.”
“I think doubles is all about connection and with Aryna you can see we have it. And also being by her side I always say I learn a lot from her, she inspires me. And I can get to say she’s my closest friend so it’s very nice to share the court with her,” Badosa said of Sabalenka in December.
On the other side, Sabalenka explained last October why she considers Badosa a very special person in her life.
“It doesn’t happen very often that you can find your soulmate on the circuit because we compete against each other… I’m super happy to have her. She is a very nice girl and having her by my side is very important to me,” Sabalenka said of Badosa at the time.
Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka © Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Badosa was there for Sabalenka after the Belarusian’s personal tragedy in Miami
When the Miami Open main draw was released, Badosa drew Simona Halep in the first round while Sabalenka had a first-round bye. But since Sabalenka was waiting for the winner of the match between Badosa and Halep, it became clear that there was a strong chance of the two best friends facing each other in Miami.
Then, the tennis world was shocked by the news of the death of Sabalenka’s ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov in Miami. Later, it was revealed by the police that the death was investigated as a suicide while Sabalenka said they were no longer dating but that she was still heartbroken over the tragedy.
While Sabalenka decided to compete in Miami, she wasn’t giving any interviews and she was wearing all black. After Badosa beat Halep to set up a Sabalenka match, the Spaniard said she was in contact with the Belarusian and that she knew the details of the situation – but she didn’t reveal anything except admitting that she was also hit by the news because her best friend was going through a very difficult situation.
“I mean, I don’t want to talk about it. But of course. As I said before, she’s one of my best friends. Yesterday I spoke with her a lot of time. This morning the same. So I know what she’s going through. I know the entire situation, what is happening. That for me is a little bit shocking also to go through that because at the end she’s my best friend and I don’t want her to suffer. It’s a very tough situation,” Badosa said in Miami.
“At the same point playing against her, it’s also uncomfortable. Yeah, but I don’t really want to talk about it because I said I’m not going to talk about it. She’s my best friend and I promised that. I’m going to stay like this. Sorry.”
Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka © Getty Images Sport – Al Bello
In the end, Sabalenka ended up winning that match 6-4 6-3. After the match, Badosa and Sabalenka shared a very warm moment at the net.
Now this week, Badosa and Sabalenka are set to play once again after the Spaniard defeated Diana Shnaider 6-3 6-4 to set up a Stuttgart round-of-16 meeting against the second-seeded Belarusian. Going into the match, Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 3-2 after winning their last three meetings.
Last year, Sabalenka beat Badosa 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the Stuttgart quarterfinal.
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