The friendship between Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka is one to cherish. However, one cannot forget the fact that they are rivals on the court, and that’s precisely what fans got to witness during their semi-final clash, where Sabalenka crushed Badosa 6-4, 6-2.
Aryna Sabalenka is all set to play her 3rd Australian Open finals, and this time it is against Madison Keys. If Sabalenka manages to defend her title yet again, then she will be the queen of the Australian Open. Iga Swiatek, on the other hand, lost against Madison Keys in the semi-finals.
Despite being the World No. 1 and 2, the playing styles of both these tennis queens are different, and that’s what Badosa recently highlighted during a post-match press conference. While opening up about the difference between playing against Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, the World No. 12 first singled out the similarities.
As per Badosa, both of them bring out the best in the opponent by bringing them to their ultimate limit.
Paula Badosa said, “Similar to that you have to bring out your best when you play against them, all the time you know. Like bringing you to the limit and that you have to maybe take more risks against them. That’s what I found when I played against them both.”
She then started with Iga Swiatek, highlighting how draining it can be to play against the World No. 1. Badosa even went ahead to heap praises upon Swiatek’s fast leg movements.
She continued, “But I think maybe the difference that makes them different is with Iga; when I played against her, she destroyed me physically; you know, she is like so intense all the time. very, very intense. It’s a tennis match, but it was like a physical battle. And I found her legs are insane; she is so fast.“
Badosa concluded, “With Aryna, it’s like winners everywhere. Sometimes I’m just walking around the court because I feel like she’s playing a PlayStation. Sometimes I am like, What’s happening? I don’t have time even to think. So it’s a completely different game, but at the same time, you just have to bring the best out.”
With that being said, can Aryna Sabalenka defend her title for the 2nd time in a row? Are tennis fans going to get a new Grand Slam champion? Well, only time will tell.
