In Pictures: Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka show off their hilarious failed attempts at taking "normal" photos

Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka recently got their photos clicked in tennis gear in Dubai, UAE.

Badosa and Sabalenka are one of the most prominent best friend duos in professional tennis currently. The former World No. 2 even called the Belarusian her "soulmate" last year.

In that context, it isn't surprising that they have been training together in Dubai ahead of the 2024 WTA tour season. The pair were recently seen enjoying each other's company in pictures posted by Sabalenka on her Instagram stories.

Paula Badosa has her arms around Aryna Sabalenka's neck in the first picture. The pair also took a selfie in which they were pouting. Sabalenka captioned the photo:

"With my girl [white heart emoji]."

A screen capture of Sabalenka's Instagram stories

Badosa and Sabalenka then posed together on the court with their backs against each other in two separate pictures.

Sabalenka captioned the first picture, followed by a laughing emoji:

"We tried to do normal pics.. Guess how it's ended up?!"

She captioned the second picture:

"Ofc...." followed by a peach emoji.

A screen capture of Sabalenka's Instagram stories

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Paula Badosa is hopeful of launching a comeback on the WTA tour in 2024

Paula Badosa's 2023 WTA tour season was derailed by injuries

Aryna Sabalenka enjoyed a career-best season on the WTA tour in 2023, winning her maiden Major title at the Australian Open before rising to the World No. 1 spot in September.

Paula Badosa, however, has been down on her luck recently as she couldn't play in three of the four Majors this year due to various injuries. All-in-all, she only played 27 competitive matches in 2023, winning 18 of them.

Badosa withdrew from the Melbourne Slam in January due to an adductor injury she picked up at a tune-up event in Adelaide the week before. The former World No. 2 made her return to the women's tour soon but again had to sit out of the French Open due to a spinal fracture of her L4 vertebrae.

The Spaniard's string of misfortune didn't end there. She was forced to retire during the early stages of her second-round match against Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in Wimbledon due to the same issue.

Paula Badosa was later advised by her doctors to not play again this year, forcing her to withdraw from the 2023 US Open and call the curtains on her season. The 26-year-old is now in a race against time to be healthy for next year's Australian Open.

Badosa, however, remains hopeful of returning to the WTA tour and playing mixed doubles in Melbourne with her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas. Badosa was quoted as saying to SDNA in late September:

"I hope to be ready in January. Now I must not move because it is the spine and it is a sensitive point. I hope to be in Australia in January and to play mixed doubles with Stefanos.”