"Little Paula made a dream come true today" - Paula Badosa marvels in the company of tennis legend and idol

Maria Sharapova may have retired from tennis back in 2020, but she has still been in the sport as of recent times. After handing over the US Open trophy to Elena Rybakina 20 years following her title triumph at Flushing Meadows, she has since made the trip down to Brazil to follow the ongoing Sao Paulo Open. In the midst of it, the Russian had the chance to meet up with Paula Badosa, with the former World No.2 sending a special message her way.

The duo have both had their time in the WTA spotlight. A six-time Grand Slam champion, Sharapova burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old at Wimbledon, winning the title to commence what was a topsy-turvy career with ginormous highs along with perilous lows amid injury and off-court scandals.

However, many only remember the glittering heights, something that Badosa was touted to achieve but has been set back in her journey to the top. Recent years have seen the Spaniard be ravaged with all sorts of injury problems.

She has stuck with it, refusing to throw in the towel and determined to make a resurgent run up the WTA rankings and back among the elite where she once resided.

Her latest tournament venture comes in Brazil, a place close to her heart. She was fortunate enough to meet one of her idols there, in the form of Sharapova. Badosa had taken a similar route in life amid the tennis and modelling careers and looked up to the 39-year-old much of that time.

They finally got to meet and exchange words at the Sao Paulo Open, a special moment for Badosa, who wrote a touching message on Instagram aimed at Sharapova. "Some people inspire you from afar, and then you get lucky enough to meet them. Today was one of those moments. You’re simply amazing Sharapova. Little Paula made a dream come true today."

Sharapova responded to the post a couple of hours later with three teary but happy emojis, showing how poignant that message was.

While that was all well and good, Badosa is on a quest for silverware in South America. It is not the strongest lineup in the world in Sao Paulo, but she still needs to beat whoever is in front of her, and that is exactly what she has been doing.

The number two seed began with a commanding 6-3, 6-2 win over lucky loser Justina Mikulskyte. Her first and only set she has dropped in this tournament to date was against Kazmin Ortenzi, who strode out into a commanding advantage. Nevertheless, Badosa showed her on-court resilience and came back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

It took just over 90 for Badosa to see off American Mary Stoiana 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals stage. This event is being played out for just the second time and is a very new acquisition to the WTA Tour.

Badosa has so far very much enjoyed it as she good form continues. After her latest injury layoff following the Madrid Open, she returned to grass and in her second tournament defeated Coco Gauff in Berlin. A first round exit at Wimbledon was put swiftly behind her with WTA 125 success in Bastad which was followed by a final and quarter-final run in Iasi and Hamburg respectively. Gauff got her revenge at Flushing Meadows, but Badosa will not be put off by that with the 28-year-old one win away from a second WTA Tour final in 2026. Only in 2021 has she managed to reach multiple finals.

Her next encounter comes against Nadia Podoroska with a final clash between one of Kaitlin Quevedo or Anna Blinkova on the cards.