Kostyuk 'surprised' at Badosa-Sabalenka partnership at Madrid Open after prior planned doubles pairing with Spaniard

Marta Kostyuk is set to face Emma Raducanu tomorrow at the Madrid Open as she aims to the Last `16 in the clay court WTA 1000 but according to the Ukrainian, a high profile doubles pairing was planned for the tournament with singles World Number Two, Paula Badosa.

This before Badosa decided to carry on her partnership with Belarusian, Aryna Sabalenka from Stuttgart losing in the first round.

For the 19-year-old, it came as a shock with Kostyuk, one of the Ukrainian players to call for bans to be issued to Russian and Belarusian players if they do not denounce the war - a ban in the case of Wimbledon which has affected Sabalenka's ability to play. Also she hinted this likely signals the end of her friendship with the Spanish ace.

“In early March, when we arrived in Indian Wells, it was the first time Paula and I met. She approached me and asked me, how I was, if everything was fine with my family. And that was it. In Indian Wells or in Dubai, I asked her if she would like to play doubles with me because I thought we could do well," said Kostyuk.

“She said, let’s try to play in Madrid, let’s try somewhere else, but actually I don’t play doubles at all. Then I saw that she was playing doubles with Aryna Sabalenka in Miami and Stuttgart. It really surprised me. I realized I would no longer ask her about playing doubles together,”