Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov enjoy a fun practice session ahead of 2023 Madrid Open

Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov recently teamed up for a fun practice session ahead of the 2023 Madrid Open.

Former World No. 2 Badosa and former World No. 3 Dimitrov reached the Spanish capital after their respective exits from tournaments in Stuttgart and Barcelona. On Monday, April 24, the duo shared the court at the tournament venue to practice together ahead of their opening matches.

Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov represented Team Falcons, alongside Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, during the World Tennis League exhibition event in Dubai in December 2022.

While the team failed to lift the inaugural trophy, Badosa and Dimitrov were the winning pair during their doubles clash against Team Hawks’ Dominic Thiem and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Bringing the same spirit during their practice in Madrid, Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov entertained the crowd with exciting rallies while engaging in some light-hearted banter.

After the session, Paula Badosa took to social media to acknowledge their fun team-up.

“Good practice todayyyyy with Grigor Dimitrov,” the Spaniard wrote on her Instagram story.

“#teamamazonico,” she added, referring to their time at the World Tennis League.

Badosa on Instagram

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Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov will hope to turn their fortunes around at the 2023 Madrid Open

Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov at the 2022 World Tennis League

Both Paula Badosa and Grigor Dimitrov have experienced a bleak start to their 2023 season.

Paula Badosa has accumulated 11 wins and six losses thus far this year. She started her season by taking part in the United Cup, where she scored a victory against Great Britain’s Harriet Dart in the solitary encounter she contested.

The World No. 42 was in formidable form at the Adelaide International 2 until she had to withdraw from her semifinal encounter against Daria Kasatkina after suffering a thigh injury. The setback forced the 25-year-old to sit on the sidelines for a month. She thus missed out on the Australian Open.

The 2021 Indian Wells champion returned on tour at the Qatar Open, but is yet to regain her footing. She faced early exits in Qatar, Dubai, Indian Wells as well as Miami. Badosa, however, has commenced her clay season with decent results. She made the quarterfinals of the Charleston Open as well as the recently concluded Stuttgart Open.

Badosa, who was a semifinalist in Madrid in 2021, will look to bank on the momentum and make a deep run at the WTA 1000 event.

Grigor Dimitrov, meanwhile, has registered ten wins against seven losses in 2023. He started off the 2023 season with a win and a loss at the United Cup. At the Australian Open, he crashed out in the third round against Novak Djokovic.

The World No. 32 followed that up with appearances in the semifinals and quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Rotterdam and ATP 250 in Marseille, respectively. Dimitrov faced early exits in all three completed Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo.

At the ATP 500 Barcelona Open, the 31-year-old earned a commanding win over Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez 6-3, 6-1, but pulled out of his next encounter against Alex de Minaur due to illness.

After a string of mediocre results, Dimitrov will hope for a turn in fortunes in the Masters 1000 event in Madrid.

Both Badosa and Dimitrov are the 26th seeds at the Madrid Open and have received an opening round bye.