Name a better tennis womance than the ‘true love’ story between Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa…

borealit March 31, 2023

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The pair have become very good friends on the WTA Tour and have even teamed up in several doubles events, dubbing themselves Sabadosa.

However, due to the nature of the Tour they don’t always play at the same tournaments and even if they do it doesn’t mean they will spend quality time with each other.

They both competed at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week, but Badosa exited in the first round while Sabalenka reached the quarter-final. Badosa, meanwhile, missed the Australian Open while Sabalenka won the title.

But the Indian Wells Open presented them with an opportunity to catch up and there were hugs aplenty after they met up for a practice session in California.

“When you had such a good practice, a normal handshake at the net won’t do! @paulabadosa & @SabalenkaA in Indian Wells on Tuesday,” WTA photographer Jimmie48 Photography wrote.

Sabalenka replied with “Love is in the air.”

But things escalated after that as that it was time to touch each other’s bums with the photographer asking the pair to caption the photo.

This time Badosa answered with: “Ahahahahahahhahahahahhahaha this is true love.”

But for anyone thinking there is a romantic relationship between the two, Sabalenka quickly pointed out “Just to clarify…we have boyfriends

Badosa has been dating Cuban-born actor and model Juan Betancourt for two years while Sabalenka and Konstantin Koltsov, a former Belarus ice hockery player, have been in a relationship since June 2021.

World No 2 Sabalenka will kick off her Indian Wells Open campaign against either Alize Cornet or Evgeniya Rodina in the second round on Saturday while 21st seed Badosa will face either fellow Spaniard Nuria Parrizas Diaz or Elisabetta Cocciaretto in her opener.

Badosa is a former champion in Indian Wells as she won the title in 2021 and reached the semi-final last year while Sabalenka has traditionally struggled at the tournament with her best performance a run to the fourth round in 2019.