Friendship and Competition: The Battle between Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka at the Miami Masters

The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka with the Spanish Paula Badosa (REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth)

After the storm comes the calm always. At least, that’s how it has been for Paula Badosa, as far as competition is concerned. After a few difficult months due to injury and having been forced to give up more than one tournament, the Spaniard has returned to the competition at a good level. At the Miami Masters she competed alongside Romanian Simona Halep, in what was her first tournament after her suspension for doping – the CAS reduced her sentence from four years to nine months after the tennis player appealed the sentence. -.

With back discomfort almost forgotten, his rival won the first set 6-1, but Badosa turned the score around to win 6-4 and 6-3. In the next round, one of her “best friends” awaits her, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who is going through a tough time. Yesterday the tragic news of the alleged suicide of the tennis player’s boyfriend, former ice hockey player and also Belarusian, Konstantin Koltsov, was known. First, a sudden death was studied, but as the investigation has progressed, everything points to suicide, since apparently he jumped from the balcony of the hotel where he was staying with his partner in Miami.

A nightmare for Sabalenka, who already had to say goodbye to her father five years ago. The Belarusian’s grief affects those close to her, including Badosa, who on the track was affected by what her friend was going through. Once she signed the victory against Simona, already at a press conference, they asked her about the topic. “I really don’t know what to say. She’s one of my best friends and I know what she’s going through, and it’s not easy. I don’t know what to say. She is a strong woman and I think she will draw strength from anywhere”, she pointed out about her next rival and friend, who has decided to continue in the tournament, although not to grant any press conference. “I hope it will be a nice battle and a good match, we will see,” she said.

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The Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa with the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, rival and friend (Networks)

Just as Sabalenka decided to continue in the tournament without making any statements, the Spaniard promised her friend not to talk about the subject: “I don’t want to talk about it anymore because I said I wouldn’t. She is my best friend and I promised her that. We leave it here. I’m sorry”. Although Badosa did assure that she knows “what she is going through.” “I know the whole situation, what is happening. What she is experiencing is also very shocking to me because she is my best friend and I don’t want her to suffer. It is a very hard situation. And at the same time playing against her is very uncomfortable,” she concluded.

On Friday, at a time yet to be determined, the two friends will face each other in the Miami tournament, a confrontation that is expected to be a great battle between the two. “We know each other very well and I know what she will do and she knows what I will do. I think these matches are decided by who is playing better at that moment and she has the best shots in the important moments. I think that when you play against tennis players who know each other very well, the match is decided in the key points, how to play at that moment and how you feel physically and mentally. I think it will be that type of match and I hope it falls on my side,” she analyzed in the preview of the match.

2024-03-20 10:35:00
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