Good Lifestyle

The history of professional tennis is full of famous rivalries, such as those between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, or Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. However, this competitive sport also gives us, from time to time, examples of true friendship. This is the case of the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who in 2025 managed to occupy first place in the world ranking of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and the Spanish Paula Badosa, who became number 2 in the world. Both have fallen in love with the internet with photos and videos that show how much fun they have together.

The origin of a friendship

Since they are both generally quite private, not much is known about how these two professional tennis players became friends. It is only public knowledge that they met in 2021 in Los Angeles, United States, and since then they have been present at important moments in their lives.

"I love Paula very much... She is an incredible person. It is very important to have friends on the circuit, so when you find someone who you feel is your soulmate, it is the best thing that can happen to you," Sabalenka said a few years ago, when interviewed at the WTA Stuttgart tournament, in Germany.

viral encounter

In October 2025, this couple of friends broke the internet by publishing several photos and videos from a weekend they spent in Dubai, before the Belarusian participated in the WTA finals in Saudi Arabia.

“A much-needed day with my best friend,” Sabalenka wrote in a video she uploaded to TikTok (@aryna.sabalenka), in which both appear dancing in a bikini.

On Instagram (@arynasabalenka) she also published several selfies with the hashtag #Sabadosa, the mixture of her last names. For her part, Badosa posted several photos and videos on her Instagram stories (@paulabadosa), with the caption: “My favorite date @arynasabalenka 💖💖💖, finally!”

Mutual support

This weekend of relaxation seemed to be quite necessary and timely for both of us. Sabalenka has been successful in her career, but she went through very difficult times in 2024 due to the death of her then boyfriend, former Belarusian hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, due to an “apparent suicide.”

It was learned that Badosa was a great support for her. For her part, the Spaniard – who is in a relationship with the Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas – retired from the circuit at the beginning of 2025 due to an injury, and has said that she hopes to recover to return with everything in January 2026 at the Australian Open.

Inside the court

By October 2025, Sabalenka and Badosa had met eight times on the court, of which the Spaniard could only beat the Belarusian twice.

At the Australian Open in January 2025, which was the last time they met before Badosa withdrew due to his injury, Sabalenka emerged victorious, and when interviewed said:

"We are very good friends, but we put friendship aside when we play. I know he's going to hate me for a couple of hours, but I promise that, when we go shopping, I'll buy him whatever he wants."

The Spanish woman responded:

“I'm going to ask you for something very expensive, because you won't have any problems since you've doubled the prize.”

And he continued joking, but praising his friend:

“I told him that it is unfair for me that he got this level today (laughs)… We were just joking, if I have to lose against someone, I prefer to lose to the number 1 in the world.”