That day, they were practice partners. Every match on the tour, they are opponents. But everyday for the last few years, they’ve been something greater: best friends.
For a fortnight every summer, the sprawling grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center brings into focus the best tennis and brightest players on the biggest stage in the world at the US Open.
In the shadow of the on-court action, Badosa and 2023 US Open finalist Sabalenka, the self-proclaimed “soulmates,” have shone a spotlight on the sisterhood built outside the baselines.
Life on tour as a tennis professional can be lonely and oftentimes isolating. Between the travel, constant training, buoying wins and devastating losses, there seems to be little time off the court–and even less for socializing.
When looking for companionship, players don’t first raise a friendly hand to their fellow players on tour.
Between steely glances across the locker room to the often acrimonious actions against one another on court, friendships aren’t always formed among perceived foes.
love Paula [Badosa] very much,” Sabalenka said at a press conference at Stuttgart in April.
“We have been friends for three or four years. She is an incredible person. 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.”
