"My girl is on fire" - Aryna Sabalenka spares sends love to bestfriend Paula Badosa as Spaniard continues recovery from heartbreaking injury

Aryna Sabalenka sent love to her best friend and fellow player Paula Badosa as the latter sits out of the tour after ending her season early due to persistent injuries. Badosa has been enjoying her off-time with light on-court practices and vacations.

Paula Badosa kicked off her 2025 season with a successful stint at the Australian Open, where she reached a Grand Slam semifinals for the first time. She returned to top ten but suffered significantly due to his back, missing several tournaments including the clay-court swing. At the China Open, she retired mid-match after injuring her left hip and called her season off pre-maturely.

Now enjoying downtime, Badosa has been spending time with her family, especially her sister Jana, and also vacationed with her best friend and World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai before the latter started competing at the WTA Finals.

In the Spaniard’s recent Instagram post, she shared a carousel showing how her recent days have been as she works to find her rhythm again. The picture series included on-court training and gym sessions, vacation shots, delectable food, and more. She captioned her post:

"Another week in the books."

Sabalenka reacted to her best friend’s post, gushing over the pictures and writing:

"My girl is on 🔥❤️

Badosa reciprocated her love for the Belarusian, commenting:

"You speaking"

Sabalenka sends love to Badosa; Instagram - @paulabadosa

Aryna Sabalenka outpaced Jasmine Paolini in the first group stage and will next face Jessica Pegula in the second round at the WTA Finals.

Paula Badosa made her feelings known after facing Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open semifinals

Badosa at the Spain v Ukraine - Billie Jean King Cup By Gainbridge Finals 2025 - Source: Getty

Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka met a couple of times on the court and the latter leads their head-to-head 6-2. Consistently holding the edge, the reigning US Open champion dominantly defeated her best friend in the Australian Open semifinals, leaving the latter pursuing the impossible.

In a post-match interview, Badosa exclaimed that she had no chance in front of Sabalenka's winners and felt that she was playing 'PlayStation'.

"With Aryna, it's more like winners everywhere. Sometimes you're like, I don't know, I'm just walking around the court because I feel like she's playing a PlayStation. Today she was like that. So sometimes I'm like, 'What's happening?' I don't have time even to think."

Badosa was a quarterfinalist at the 2021 French Open and the 2024 US Open, and won four WTA Tour-level singles titles in her career.