Sabalenka Faces Friend Badosa in Australian Open Semifinal Clash

MELBOURNE, Australia — Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa, close friends and fierce competitors, will set aside their bond Thursday as they face off in the Australian Open women’s semifinal at Melbourne Park. The match, scheduled for 08:30 GMT, marks a high-stakes encounter between the world No. 1 Sabalenka and Badosa, who is making her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance.

Sabalenka, 26, from Belarus, is vying for her third consecutive Australian Open title, while Badosa, 27, of Spain, continues her remarkable comeback from a back injury that nearly ended her career last year. The two have played eight times before, with Sabalenka winning the last six matches. However, their friendship adds a unique layer of tension to this showdown.

“I love Paula very much. She is an incredible person,” Sabalenka said last year in Stuttgart, where she described Badosa as her “soulmate.” “It is very important to have friends on the circuit, so when you find someone who you feel is your soulmate, it is the best thing that can happen to you.”

Badosa echoed the sentiment, emphasizing their shared competitiveness. “We realised that we had very similar personalities and we get along very well, and that we’re both very, very competitive,” she said in March. “It’s very nice for me having a friend on tour because it’s very tough to find.”

Despite their off-court camaraderie, both players are prepared to compete fiercely. “We know how to separate things,” Badosa said. Sabalenka added, “On the court we are competitors, and there is no place for friendship.”

In the other semifinal, five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek of Poland will face American Madison Keys. Swiatek, the tournament’s second seed, is looking to improve her record at Melbourne Park, having only advanced beyond the fourth round once before. Keys, seeded 19th, is riding a 10-match winning streak and aims to reach her first Grand Slam final since the 2017 US Open.

“This is something that I always wanted to improve,” Swiatek said of her Australian Open performance. “It’s not like I need to prove it to other people. It’s more that I need to kind of believe. I feel I believe more now.”

Keys, known for her powerful game, has struggled with the pressure of Grand Slam expectations in the past. “There have been periods of my career where it felt like if I didn’t win [a Grand Slam], then I hadn’t done enough,” she said. “That took a lot of the fun out of the game.”

Both semifinals promise high drama as the players battle for a spot in Saturday’s final. Live coverage is available on BBC 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website and app.