Aryna Sabalenka promises Paula Badosa she will take her shopping to make up for beating her at Australian Open, but with one condition

Aryna Sabalenka scored a dominant win over close friend Paula Badosa in the Australian Open semifinal. She came through 6-4, 6-4 despite falling behind an early break.

The win has put the top seed just a win away from completing a rare three-peat at the season’s opening Slam. She had beaten Elena Rybakina and Zheng Qinwen in the finals of the last two editions, respectively.

After the win, Sabalenka spoke about the challenges of playing a close friend in such a big match. She, however, was quick to reveal her plan to make up with Badosa.

"I hope she's still my friend," Aryna Sabalenka said. "Probably she, I mean, she hates me for the next, I don't know, hour or a day too, I'm OK with that, I can handle that."

"And after that I think we're back to be friends, back to go out together, shopping. Paula we go shopping and I pay for whatever she you want," she continued. "Maybe, you know, I hope she's gonna be still here and we go, we go shop. I'm gonna put a limit for her, you know, because she can go crazy."

With the win, Sabalenka has improved her head-to-head against Badosa to 6-2. The Spaniard had taken their opening two meetings in 2021 but the Belarusian has since taken six straight victories.

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"No matter what's happened on court, we're gonna be friends" - Aryna Sabalenka after Australian Open SF win over Paula Badosa

Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa (in white) at the 2025 Australian Open - Day 12 - Source: Getty

Aryna Sabalenka said she and Paula Badosa had long ago made a pact not to let the results on court affect their relationship off the court. The top seed said they view each other simply as opponents when playing.

"I don't know, you know, I think after a couple of battles against each other, we we spoke and we decided to, you know, put it aside and you know we're here, she wants it badly, we both want it badly, it's our dream and here we are just opponents," Aryna Sabalenka said.

"No matter what's happened on the court, we're gonna be friends after our matches and it's tough to do, but we agreed on that and I don't know, I think we're doing pretty well," she added.

Sabalenka will take on the winner of the second semifinal between Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys in the summit clash of the Australian Open.