Daily Dose of Social Media: Paula Badosa ‘forgives’ Aryna Sabalenka after receiving her promised gift, De Minaur responds to Boulter’s lighthearted take on marriage
Tennis News
Aryna Sabalenka kept her promise to Paula Badosa by giving her a jewel to forgive her for eliminating her at the Australian Open. In a new Daily Dose of Social Media we also review the funny game starring Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz.
Meanwhile, Katie Boulter joked with her fiancé Alex De Minaur about getting married and having children, alluding to Belinda Bencic's recent Abu Dhabi Open title, on the other hand Serena Williams shared some family photos on her social networks.
Alcaraz and Medvedev take on fun ‘In or Out’ challenge in Rotterdam
Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev took part in a fun challenge during media day at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam. In a video shared by the ATP Tour and the tournament’s official social media accounts, both players played a game of ‘In or Out,’ deciding between different categories, some related to tennis and others not.
Medvedev was eliminated in the Round of 16 after a surprising loss to Italy’s Mattia Bellucci, who staged an upset with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory. Bellucci became the tournament’s biggest surprise, reaching the semifinals before falling to Alex De Minaur.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the final after defeating Hubert Hurkacz in the semis. The Spaniard will now compete in his first-ever indoor hardcourt final, facing De Minaur this Sunday for the ABN AMRO Open title.
Sabalenka keeps her promise to Badosa
Aryna Sabalenka fulfilled the promise she made to her close friend Paula Badosa back at the Australian Open. The Belarusian and the Spaniard faced off in the semi-finals of the year’s first Grand Slam, with Badosa chasing her first Grand Slam final and Sabalenka aiming to defend the title she had won in the previous two editions.
Sabalenka claimed victory 6-4, 6-2, eliminating her friend. Both took the match result with good humour, and Sabalenka joked after the win: “I hope she’s still my friend. I’m sure she hates me for the next—I don’t know—hour, day, or two,” she said. “I promised Paula we’d go shopping, and I’ll pay for whatever she wants.”
On the other hand, Badosa made it clear she expected a gift from the world No. 1. “It’s going to be something really expensive because now I think she doubled the prize money,” she said. “So I think she won’t have a problem with that. I’ll think about it.”
In a video posted on social media, Badosa is seen receiving a bracelet, which completely delighted the Spaniard. She playfully gestured that there was no bad blood between them and "forgave" Sabalenka, putting the situation behind them.
Aryna Sabalenka kept her promise to Paula Badosa.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 8, 2025
After beating her at the Australian Open, Aryna said she’d get her a gift.
Paula said it would be something very expensive. 😂
(via Aryna’s IG) pic.twitter.com/lkLXZGPC7n
Additionally, the 3-time Grand Slam champion shared an Instagram post featuring snapshots of her routine: “Chill, play, repeat 🫶🏼,” she wrote, alongside photos from the gym and the tennis court.
Sabalenka’s next challenge will be at the Doha Open this week, where she will be the first seed and aim to reclaim the title she won back in 2020 by defeating Petra Kvitova in the final. The Belarusian will be looking to end Swiatek’s dominance in Qatar, as the Polish star has claimed three consecutive titles there (2022-2024).
Serena Williams shares heartfelt family moments with father Richard
Serena Williams shared a video along with some family photos with her father Richard Williams, husband Alexis Ohanian and daughters Olympia and Adira. The 23-time Grand Slam champion, retired since 2022, combines her family life with her life as an entrepreneur and investor in dozens of companies, focusing on innovation, sports and women.
The former world No. 1 still makes some sporadic appearances on social networks and this time with her father and former coach Richard, who has always been pointed out by both her and her sister Venus Williams as one of the keys to her success from an early age.
“Any ideas to share?” – De Minaur responds to Boulter’s Grand Slam-marriage comparison
Katie Boulter compared winning a Grand Slam to getting married, prompting a hilarious response from her fiancé, Alex De Minaur. The British No. 1 announced her engagement to the Australian during the off-season after several years of dating, though they haven’t publicly revealed their wedding date.
Boulter shared a thought-provoking post on social media, comparing marriage and having children to winning tennis titles. “Get married = win slam. Have a baby = win 500,” she posted, to which De Minaur responded humorously: “You got any ideas you wanna share with me??? 😅😂”
The Brit was actually referencing Belinda Bencic’s recent WTA 500 title at the Abu Dhabi Open, where the Swiss player triumphed over Ashlyn Krueger. Bencic recently returned to the Tour after nearly a year away due to maternity leave. Boulter was also alluding to Madison Keys, the newly crowned Australian Open champion, who tied the knot just a few months ago with her former colleague and current coach, Bjorn Fratangelo.
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- Bencic is all business right now. If Rybakina is the ice queen, then Bencic is Antarctica—colder, sharper, and seemingly unstoppable. 🔥❄️MrAndreeva07-02-2025
- Creepy.
mandoist07-02-2025 - Ouch!!mandoist07-02-2025
- they need to change the rules on the WTA to limit wildcards more effectively like they have on the ATPSososo06-02-2025
- This is just getting beyond ridiculous!! Not to mention unsportsmanlike and unfair to serious up & coming contenders.mandoist06-02-2025
- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.mandoist04-02-2025
- It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
- Medvedev talking to his form here. "Some actual deep problem." 🤣😂🤣MrAndreeva03-02-2025
- "Hopefully, the team around her will help... " Actually, the lack thereof seems to have been part of the problem(s). Another possibility is that, while dealing with legitimate surgeries, withdrawing, and otherwise passing on events, the competition has stepped-up in intensity while she was busy with traveling, photo shoots, and TV commercials.mandoist03-02-2025
