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Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa playfully bantered about being in love after pictures emerged of their affectionate embrace during a recent practice session at the 2023 Indian Wells Open.
Badosa and Sabalenka have arrived at Indian Wells on the back of contrasting fortunes at recent tournaments. Badosa returned from injury only to lose her opening matches at the Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. Sabalenka, on the other hand, has been in great form, winning the Australian Open and reaching the quarterfinals in Dubai.
The pair reunited during practice at the Indian Wells Open, and shared a warm hug at the end of their session. The scene was captured by the official WTA photographer.
Aryna Sabalenka playfully commented:
"Love is in the air."
The photographer shared another picture of Sabalenka and Badosa in a more intimate embrace.
That post caused Paula Badosa to join the conversation as well, commenting on the duo being in "true love."
"Ahahahahahahhahahahahhahaha this is true love," she wrote.
With tennis fans commenting incessantly about the pictures, Sabalenka jokingly clarified that both of them had their own significant other.
"Just to clarify...we have boyfriends," she wrote.
The pair shared a warm exchange earlier in the week too, before gushing over each other on Instagram.
How Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa fared at Indian Wells 2022
Aryna Sabalenka had a disappointing showing at the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) in 2022. After receiving a bye in the first round, she faced Jasmine Paolini in the second. The Belarusian was leading by a set but Paolini mounted a strong comeback and registered the biggest win of her career, taking the encounter 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Paula Badosa, meanwhile, was on the hunt to defend her Indian Wells title in 2022. She had defeated Victoria Azarenka in the 2021 final for the biggest win of her career.
The Spaniard began her title defense on a strong note, with easy wins over Tereza Martincova and Sara Sorribes Tormo. She then defeated Leylah Fernandez to book a quarterfinal spot, before getting the better of Veronika Kudermetova to set up a showdown against Maria Sakkari in the semifinals.
Sakkari won the first set with ease but Badosa managed to get back on level terms in the second. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, however, she was unable to keep the momentum going and Sakkari eventually reached her maiden WTA 1000 final.
