Aryna Sabalenka scores Sabadosa win over bestie Paula Badosa at Roland Garros

Aryna Sabalenka set aside her strong friendship with Paula Badosa to win a bestie battle at 2024 Roland Garros, defeating the former world No. 2, 7-5, 6-1.

Sabalenka and Badosa have played three times this season, with the world No. 2 coming out on top all three times, shaking off a slow start to rediscover her best form and advance into the second week, winning a 10th straight Grand Slam main-draw match after one hour and 17 minutes under the Court Philippe-Chatrier roof.

"I just tried to play my best, fight for every point. The conditions were tough so I knew that the serve isn't much of an advantage and that I could come back in this match," Sabalenka said on court after the match. "I was just trying to fight for every point and enjoy this incredible atmosphere!"

More rain threatened to dampen the highly-anticipated third-round clash between the self-described “tour soulmates,” but Sabadosa rose to the occasion on Saturday morning, playing some high-quality tennis from the outset as Sabalenka began her bid to reach the fourth round or better of a seventh straight major tournament.

"It's tough to play your best friend. She's an incredible player, coming back after an injury. I'm pretty sure she's going to be back on top very soon. We're good to separate things; during the match, we're opponents and I'm trying not to watch too much the other side, focus on myself, and bring my best game."

The two-time Australian Open champion first became friends with Badosa during the 2022 Tie Break Tens event ahead of that year’s BNP Paribas Open and the two have been all but inseparable ever since, playing doubles on court and supporting each other through myriad physical and emotional hurdles over the last two years. Badosa was Sabalenka’s first opponent after the 26-year-old learned her ex-partner Konstantin Koltsov had taken his own life during the Miami Open, and Sabalenka comforted an injured Badosa at the end of their Porsche Tennis Grand Prix encounter back in April.

Badosa, who has been dealing with chronic back issues and revealed she underwent a second round of cortisone shots before Roland Garros, enjoyed a hard-fought run to the third round with victories over No. 29 seed Katie Boulter and two-time quarterfinalist Yulia Putintseva. Herself a 2021 quarterfinalist in Paris, Badosa, who is set to play mixed doubles with on-again boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas, was excited to face Sabalenka again after nearly defeating her friend in Stuttgart.

“I think the last time it finished in a sad way, so I learned a lot from that match also,” she said after defeating Putintseva in three sets on Thursday. “I think it was a very good one from both sides. I know what I'm going to find from her side Saturday. I know how I have to play against her. So, yeah, I think it's going to be fun.”

Sabalenka had dropped just seven games through two straight-set victories over Erika Andreeva and Moyuka Uchijima, and has only lost to Iga Swiatek since Stuttgart, finishing runner-up to the world No. 1 at the Mutua Madrid Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Opening the match by breaking Badosa, the 2023 semifinalist encountered her toughest challenge thus far as the Spaniard swiftly broke back and twice found herself up a break of her open in the first set.

With Badosa on the brink of serving out a one-set lead, Sabalenka caught fire from there, winning 12 of the next 16 points and seven straight games to turn the match back to her side, leading by a set and two breaks.

Badosa got on the board with a love hold but Sabalenka was undeterred, striking winners at will and mixing power with variety as she stormed to the finish line. Down three match points, Badosa saved all three with the help of some solid serving and well-struck forehands, but Sabalenka earned the fourth off of an audacious drop shot—a shot she has employed to great effect throughout the clay-court swing.

"Sometimes it gets more complicated to play when you have so many options. You're thinking too much! But today was a day where I wasn't thinking that much and was just feeling the game. I was trusting myself and going for all my shots."

With one last backhand error from Badosa, the two were friends again at net, sharing a hug after Sabalenka's emphatic win.

"I just remind myself that last year in this situation I was on the sofa, so looking the tournament on TV," reflected Badosa, who missed three major tournaments in 2023 due to injury. "So being here, I'm grateful of that. Today I had the opportunity to play against one of the best players in the world in Philippe Chatrier. I think I have to be grateful for that after what I went through. I will try to turn the page as soon as possible, because it's worth it."

Standing between Sabalenka and a return to the Roland Garros quarterfinals will be an in-form American, either No. 14 seed Madison Keys or No. 22 seed Emma Navarro. A semifinalist on the terre battue in 2018, Keys is fresh off a title run at the Internationaux de Strasbourg and nearly beat Sabalenka in the semifinals of last summer’s US Open before losing in three sets. Meanwhile, Navarro defeated Sabalenka in three sets at the BNP Paribas Open two months ago.