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Paula Badosa called Aryna Sabalenka her "closest friend" on the Tour and underlined that it was a joy for her to share the court with the Belarusian. Badosa and Sabalenka, who have had a very good friendship for quite some time, played a doubles match together at the World Tennis League on Thursday.
Competing against Mirra Andreeva and Sofia Kenin, Badosa and Sabalenka claimed a routine 6-3 6-3 win. "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 on the court after the match, via The Tennis Letter.
Paula Badosa says Sabalenka is her closest friend after they won their doubles match:
“Doubles is all about connection.With Aryna you can see we have it. Being by her side, I always say I learn a lot from her. She inspires me. I can say she’s my closest friend” 🥹 pic.twitter.com/2XmU5VjpF4 — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) December 21, 2023
What Sabalenka said about her friendship with Badosa?
Just recently, world No 2 Sabalenka very honestly spoke about her friendship with Badosa, declaring the Spaniard her "soulmate" on the Tour.
At the time, Sabalenka also revealed that she and Badosa had a deal, which states that they are only opponents when they are playing against each other on the court - but everything ends the moment the match finishes. "It is very difficult.
It doesn't happen very often that you can find your soulmate on the circuit because we compete against each other. But we had this deal: on the court we are opponents, we can shout whatever we want, but off the court we are friends again.
We can take a day, depending on who wins, to accept the fact that one of us lost, but then we become friends again. It's hard, and 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 her friendship with Badosa in October.