Paula Badosa y Aryna Sabalenka They will put aside this Thursday (09:30, Eurosport), for a few hours, the intimate friendship that unites them, to face each other in the semifinals of the Australian Open. It is not the first time they have competed and, most likely, it will not be the last. In fact, this is already their eighth meeting, with a 5-2 in favor of the 26-year-old Belarusian, who after losing the first two duels, both in 2021, has won the last five. Winner of the last two editions of the Oceanic Grand Slam, the leader of the world ranking starts as a favorite against the 11th seed, out of 27who had never made it this far in a major.
“Aryna is showing why she is number one right now. She is being very consistent, very aggressive, very intense. It is always very difficult to face her. I did it last year (three times, in Miami, Stuttgart and Roland Garros)but I don’t think I was in the shape I am in now. “I’m really looking forward to that game.”says Badosa, who explains how they manage to dissociate friendship and rivalry. “We handle it quite normally. Many times we write messages to each other before games, very calmly. We know how to separate things very well. We talked about it many times. We admire each other, we respect each other. It’s going to be a battle on the field, of course, but outside it’s super normal.”.
“She is a great player and has been through a lot. Now he’s back to his best game. “I am very happy to see that.”celebra Sabalenka. “I watched their games here. I think he is playing great Tennis. I just need to focus on myself, and I have to stay aggressive, and put her under a lot of pressure. I’m very excited to face her in the semi-finals. It’s definitely going to be a great battle, and I’m looking forward to playing it.”admits the tennis player from Minsk.
Empathy
Paula and Aryna share a fun personality (also a bit of a thug) and, as they both live in Dubai, they train together, go out and enjoy each other’s company when they have free time between tournaments. If they meet, and it happens very often, in competitions, they also look for time to see each other and have fun, to a certain extent, of course. And they have had hilarious moments. A few weeks ago, at the World Tennis League, an exhibition held in Abu Dhabi, they faced each other. Sabalenka won and the mess on the court, when in the middle of an interview she revealed that Badosa teaches her some of her language. “I was just showing off my Spanish skills. It’s your fault. You have to teach me better things than p…”.
-Apart from a story of friendship and rivalry similar to others, there were in other times on the circuit —Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, Serena Williams and Caroline Woznicaki, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, and Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev, to give a few examples—, Badosa and Sabalenka fight for a Slam final from different angles. The one from Begur has never reached the title match in the highest category and she covets it. The winner of three majors (she also triumphed at the US Open last year) can link three titles in Melbourne, as Martina Hingis did between 1997 and 1999.
Their hitting styles are very similar, although Aryna, today, surpasses Paula in power, so perhaps the Catalan is looking for a different tactical approach to the game. In that aspect, he has shone in previous games, with game plans that, according to his coach, Pol Toledo, he has executed perfectly. She is facing a great opportunity and, although she, who has just beaten the top-3 Coco Gauff, proudly denies it and insists that she always wants “more”, She has a lot to gain and nothing to lose… And her rival, who had a hard time eliminating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, does.
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