Home Sports Aryna Sabalenka soars past close friend Paula Badosa to reach the Australian Open final – as she reveals how she plans to win back her bestie

Aryna Sabalenka soars past close friend Paula Badosa to reach the Australian Open final – as she reveals how she plans to win back her bestie

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Aryna Sabalenka booked her place in the Australian Open women's singles final with a straight sets victory against her good friend Paula Badosa on Thursday.

Only once did their masks fall off. At the beginning of the second set, Paula Badosa suffered a fall, her racket slipped from her hand, and she and her best friend, Aryna Sabalenka, couldn’t stop smiling. For the rest of this Australian Open semi-final, these two attacked each other with teeth and claws, and as expected from the woman with the tiger tattoo, Sabalenka’s teeth and claws proved sharper.

The world number one won 6-4, 6-2 and is one match away from claiming his third consecutive Australian Open title. She will face either Iga Swiatek or Madison Keys on Saturday and will try to become the first ‘three-time’ champion since Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.

The 26-year-old Belarusian absolutely belongs in such majestic company. He lost 2-0, 40-0 here, but from then on he was absolutely unstoppable and will have to stop a bit in the final.

“After a couple of battles between us, we talked and decided to put it aside,” Sabalenka said of her rivalry with Badosa, who now leads 6-2.

‘I’m sure she’ll hate me for the next hour, day or two, but then we’re friends again. Paula, if you’re looking, we can go shopping and I’ll pay whatever you want.

Aryna Sabalenka booked her place in the Australian Open women’s singles final with a straight sets victory against her good friend Paula Badosa on Thursday.

World number 12 Badosa was left very torn as she has impressed greatly during this tournament and only dropped one point on her way to the semi-final.

World number 12 Badosa was left very torn as she has impressed greatly during this tournament and only dropped one point on her way to the semi-final.

“It was a very tough match against a friend, I am very happy to see her again at her highest level.”

As Sabalenka alluded, Badosa’s presence in the semifinal was a triumph in itself. In May 2023 she suffered a stress fracture in her back that brought her to the brink of retirement, before a review of her training methods and diet controlled the pain and ended the need for anesthetic cortisone injections.

In the quarterfinals against Coco Gauff she was able to absorb the pressure and wait for her opponent’s forehand to break, but that was never going to happen against Sabalenka.

The current champion has become a very complete player. The biomechanical rebuild of his serve in 2022 was the eureka moment, but he has continued to improve.

She defends better, with an emergency forehand a recent addition to her toolbox. Over the past season, he gradually developed a useful drop shot, meaning opponents can no longer fall behind in park-the-bus mode.

Winning the US Open last year, he also showed his best game at net and this fortnight he has played with more spin and form on his forehand, making it more consistent and less predictable.

Badosa laughed in the second set after appearing to slip on the court by throwing his racket into the air

Badosa laughed in the second set after appearing to slip on the court by throwing his racket into the air

There were immediate concerns that he might have hurt himself, but he stuck a thumbs up in the air before laughing about the moment.

There were immediate concerns that he might have hurt himself, but he stuck a thumbs up in the air before laughing about the moment.

Sabalenka and Badosa are great friends off the court and the couple embraced each other after the match with a big hug

Sabalenka and Badosa are great friends off the court and the couple embraced each other after the match with a big hug

1737631130 615 Aryna Sabalenka soars past close friend Paula Badosa to reach

The two key games of the match came when Sabalenka outscored Badosa 40-0 in the third game. In an epic game at 2-2, Sabalenka’s drop shot was deployed for the first time in the match to help her break and take the lead for the first time in the match.

The roof was closed due to a few drops of rain on a gray day in Melbourne. Those faster conditions worked in Sabalenka’s favor and she raced to the finish line.

Badosa stayed in touch, but simply couldn’t get ahead in enough rallies.

In the third game of the second set, Badosa turned around and they exchanged that smile. Did he break Badosa’s concentration? One would not expect this from such a seasoned competitor, but the truth is that at 30-30 she committed two double faults to concede the break.

There was another double fault and Badosa fell 4-1 as a competitive match turned into a rout.

Sabalenka scored the 32nd goal past Badosa to seal the match and the rivals shared a warm embrace at the net.

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