With the 2025 WTA season set to kick off in a few weeks, tennis stars have begun preparations with Paula Badosa and Simona Halep coming together for a special hitting session.
Badosa experienced a comeback season of sorts, beginning 2024 with an appearance at the Adelaide International. Despite struggling with back injuries for some of the year, the Spaniard was able to win one title, at the 2024 Citi Open. Additionally, she made semifinal appearances at the Cincinnati Open and China Open towards the end of the year.
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The former World No.1 returned to the courts in 2024 after serving a reduced four-year suspension for violating anti-doping regulations. Halep made her comeback at the 2024 Miami Open, where she fell to Badosa in a three-set opening round encounter.
As the 2025 season approaches, both athletes came together for a special practice session. Badosa took to social media to post photos of both her and Halep on the tennis court, and thanked the Romanian for playing with her.
“Great practice with this champ @simonahalep thank you," Badosa captioned her Instagram story.
Halep also shared a picture of the duo on the tennis court, and returned thanks to Badosa for the training session.
"Always a pleasure 😌 Thanks for the great practice @paulabadosa," wrote the former Wimbledon champion.
Halep and Badosa have faced each other three times on the WTA Tour, with the Romanian winning two out of the three encounters.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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