Sabalenka won’t let Badosa friendship dent Grand Slam ‘three-peat’ dream

The champion friends volition conscionable successful the Australian Open semifinals arsenic Sabalenka looks for a 3rd consecutive tennis rubric successful Melbourne.

Aryna Sabalenka volition not fto her relationship with Paula Badosa impact her quest to triumph a 3rd successive Australian Open rubric erstwhile the champion friends clash successful the semifinals, the defending champion has said.

Badosa upset American 3rd effect Coco Gauff to marque her archetypal Grand Slam semifinal connected Tuesday, portion Sabalenka downed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to enactment connected people to beryllium the archetypal pistillate to implicit a “three-peat” since Martina Hingis from 1997-99.

Sabalenka, who has a 5-2 grounds against Badosa, was pleased with her friend’s advancement successful the tourney but said the Spaniard should not expect immoderate casual attraction erstwhile they conscionable astatine Melbourne Park.

The 11th effect Badosa earlier stunned satellite fig 3 Coco Gauff successful consecutive sets to scope her maiden Grand Slam semifinal.

“She’s a large subordinate and she has been done a lot. Now she’s backmost connected her champion game. I’m truly blessed to spot that,” Sabalenka said of Badosa, who a twelvemonth agone astir discontinue tennis due to the fact that of a chronic backmost condition.

“We decided a agelong clip agone that disconnected the tribunal we are friends, portion connected the tribunal she truly wants to win, I truly privation to win,” Sabalenka said aft her 6-2 2-6 6-3 triumph implicit Russian 27th effect Pavlyuchenkova.

“So connected the tribunal we are competitors and determination is nary spot for friendship.”

HYPED for Sabadosa semi 🔜@SabalenkaA @paulabadosa #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/27mRf5yb7u

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2025

While she would not speculate connected her chances of joining an elite radical of players who person won 3 Australian Open titles successful a row, including Margaret Court (1969-71), Evonne Goolagong (1974–76), Steffi Graf (1988–90), Monica Seles (1991–93) and Hingis, the Belarusian said it was not beyond her reach.

“I’m truly blessed that I enactment myself successful this concern wherever I person the accidental to go 1 of them,” she told reporters.

“To beryllium adjacent to those names, wow, that’s conscionable a dream. Of course, it has ever been successful the backmost of my caput that I tin bash that. But you know, my main absorption is … measurement by step.

“I cognize that if I volition beryllium capable to bring my champion tennis to each game, if not the champion tennis, past the champion warring spirit, I cognize that I’m susceptible of doing that.”