There is a prominent doubles pairing at the WTA Tour 500 tournament in Brisbane: Aryna Sabalenka is competing together with Paula Badosa. The first success has already been achieved.
von Jens Huiber
last edited: January 4, 2026, 11:45 a.m
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It’s a shame that there is no competition in professional tennis where there is a third player on one side of a court. Because then Ons Jabeur would definitely join Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa. Because this trio doesn’t make it under “Best Friends Forever”. Now Jabeur continues to struggle with physical problems – but at least Badosa and Sabalenka found each other for the doubles in Brisbane.
“Sabadosa” will be performed as an additional treat for the spectators in Brisbane, who can look forward to a fantastic field of participants, especially among the women. In addition to Sabalenka and Badosa, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys and Mirra Andreeva will serve.
Badosa reaches the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2025
While Aryna Sabalenka can be assumed to be competing for all major titles in 2026, the situation with doubles partner Paula Badosa is a little different. The Spaniard notoriously struggles with injury problems. Last season, Badosa had to take a long break after losing in the first round at Wimbledon against Katie Boulter and only returned to the tournament in Beijing.
The fact that she is still ranked among the 30 best players in the world depends more or less on a single result: Paula Badosa was able to advance to the semi-finals at the Australian Open in 2025. However, there she lost to her current doubles partner in Brisbane: Aryna Sabalenka.
By the way, the two started successfully: On Sunday there was a 7:6 (2) and 7:6 (3) against Liumilla Samsonova and Zhang Shuai.
