Pure bonds in tennis: Badosa's unfiltered revelations about Sabalenka and Jabeur friendship

Spanish tennis superstar Paula Badosa recently shed more light on her blossoming friendship with WTA colleagues Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur. The trio have often been pictured spending time together outside of the court, despite their highly competitive nature on it.

Sabalenka recently lifted her second Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open in January. The Belarusian has risen to a career high ranking of World No.2. Alternatively, Jabeur has finished runner-up at two Grand Slam events, reaching consecutive Major finals at the 2022 Wimbledon and US Open events.

Although Badosa is yet to reach a Grand Slam final, the Spaniard has been ranked as high as World No.2. After dealing with injuries, she has seen her form drop and is currently ranked outside the Top 100. Nonetheless, the 26-year old has remained positive and highlighted how much she valued the relationship she had with her rivals.

"They’re nice people, not just great athletes," said Badosa. “I feel it’s very important. It’s a very pure relationship we have between us and a very real one. Even though we’re competitors at the end of the day, we’re gonna compete for 2 hours and then we know how to separate things.
"It’s nice to have this support. We spend many weeks together, more than with our families. We know what we’re going through because we’re tennis players. We can empathize with each other. It’s nice to have these girls because they’re nice people, not just great athletes.
"For me, it’s very inspiring to have them by my side… sometimes it’s tricky playing each other. But we know how to separate.. we’re very competitive. I like that moment, when we just compete. We know in that moment we’re gonna be opponents, but then we know how to separate that. Being capable of doing that is a sign of being very smart and intelligent."