Paula Badosa‘s best-ever run in a Grand Slam concluded on Thursday at the 2025 Australian Open. The Spaniard lost to World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal round at the Rod Laver Arena. The Belarusian is now on the brink of winning the Major down under for a third straight time. Badosa, on the other hand, might be upset by her loss, but she knows her off-court bestie and three-time Major winner was a far better player than her. In fact, she even explained what it’s like to play against Sabalenka, alongside another solid WTA pro and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.

Badosa began the semifinal on a strong note. She won the first two games of the opening set. However, Sabalenka then made a solid comeback, hitting 26 winners overall to dismiss the Spaniard’s challenge. Badosa could hit only 8 winners. It took Aryna just 1 hour and 26 minutes to wrap up the match with a score line of 6-4, 6-2.

When Sabalenka beat her, the second semifinal between Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek was yet to begin. Prior to that clash, Swiatek was the favorite though, and was expected to make it to the final to challenge Sabalenka for the title. Badosa was asked about the difference between the playing styles of these two players.

Well, for Badosa, they are “Similar, and you have to bring your best out when you play against them all the time,” she said. But she also underlined the key difference and added, “Iga destroyed me physically… with Aryna it’s like winners everywhere. Sometimes I’m just walking around the court because I feel like she’s playing a PlayStation.”

Against Swiatek, Badosa is leveled at 1-1 in the H2H tally. However, she’s now trailing 2-6 against Sabalenka in WTA encounters, following the loss in the AO semifinal. But guess what? All’s good between the besties. It was evident after the Tiger showed a sweet and heartwarming gesture for her friend post-match. Plus, she’s also vowed to win her heart with a special outing. And what’s it going to be?

Bestie Aryna Sabalenka lifts Paula Badosa’s spirits and promises to take her on a date

The defeat was hard for Paula Badosa and it was visible from her body language. The 27-year-old sat down in disappointment after missing out on her first-ever Grand Slam final. Her friend Aryna Sabalenka noticed it immediately and went up to her to console her. The Belarusian wants to keep her friendship with Badosa intact. But how?

On the importance of the SF and what it meant to both of them, the World No.1 said, “I think after a couple of battles against each other we’ve spoken and we’ve decided to put it aside. We’re here, she wanted it badly, we both wanted it badly. It’s our dream. We know no matter what happens on the court we’re going to be friends.”

Revealing her plan to make Badosa happy, Sabalenka added, “I hope she’s still my friend, I’m sure she’ll hate me for the next hour or day or two. I’m OK with that, I can handle that. I would love to go shopping together soon, and I promise to pay for anything she wants” But for that, Badosa will have to wait for this weekend to get over. Her friend’s got one last job to do!

Sabalenka will now face Madison Keys in the title clash of the 2025 Australian Open. The World No.10 American also sealed her spot in the final after edging out five-time Major winner Iga Swiatek on Thursday. Keys is now in her first-ever Grand Slam final down under.

No doubt Sabalenka will enter that match as a favorite, thanks to her H2H tally against Keys, as she leads her 4-1, but Keys can’t be written off. It will be intriguing to see who takes the crown at the Rod Laver Arena on January 25. Who are you backing?