Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa share a close bond both on and off the court. After the Spaniard expressed her biggest regret in her career, Sabalenka came forward and extended her support.
Badosa is currently in Australia, having recently completed her campaign at the 2026 Brisbane International. She competed in both the singles and doubles events at the WTA 500 hard court tournament, partnering with Sabalenka for the doubles.
Aryna Sabalenka Reacts to Paula Badosa Revealing the Thing She’s Regretted in the Past
In the singles event at the 2026 Brisbane International, Badosa was seeded 15th and began her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. She won her opening match against Marie Bouzkova but was eliminated in the third round by the third seed, Elena Rybakina.
After concluding her campaign in Brisbane, the former World No. 2 took to social media and shared a series of pictures, featuring memorable moments she had at the tournament and how she spent time in the city with her team.
Badosa reflected on one of her biggest regrets over the years: not fully enjoying the journey and instead focusing on results and the negativity surrounding them. She mentioned that one of her goals for this year is to change that perspective.
“One of the things I regretted the most of my past years was not enjoying the journey and just focusing on the results and the negativity around. One of the goals this year is to change that from now on. 😊 Brissie, thanks for the memories this week. Surrounded in the best way possible. Onto the next, vamos! We back on track 💪 #goodvibesonly,” Badosa captioned her Instagram post.
Reacting to Badosa’s post, Sabalenka expressed her support and conveyed her “love” for her friend.
“Love you girl ❤️,” Sabalenka commented.
In the doubles event at the 2026 Brisbane International, Badosa and Sabalenka won their first-round match against the pair of Liudmila Samsonova and Zhang Shuai. Then they withdrew before their quarterfinal match against the third-seeded duo of Cristina Bucșa and Ellen Perez.
Where Will Badosa and Sabalenka Compete Next?
Following the conclusion of her campaign at the 2026 Brisbane International, Badosa is set to compete next at the Australian Open. The Grand Slam tournament is scheduled to take place from January 12 to January 26, 2026, at Melbourne Park, with the main draw matches starting on January 18.
Last year, Badosa was seeded 11th at the Australian Open and defeated Wang Xinyu, Wild Card Talia Gibson, 17th seed Marta Kostyuk, and Olga Danilović in the first four rounds, respectively. In the quarterfinals, she overcame the third seed, Coco Gauff. Her campaign ended in the semifinals when she lost to the eventual runner-up and top seed, Sabalenka.
On the other hand, Sabalenka is still competing at the 2026 Brisbane International, where she is the top seed. She began her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye, defeating Cristina Bucșa in her opening match and then triumphing over Sorana Cîrstea in the third round.
In the quarterfinals, the World No. 1 defeated fifth seed Madison Keys, advancing to the semifinals, where she will face 11th seed Karolína Muchová. Sabalenka and Muchová have met four times on the WTA Tour, with the former World No. 8 winning three of those encounters.
Their most recent match was in the quarterfinals of the 2024 China Open, where Muchová secured the victory and went on to finish as the runner-up to Coco Gauff. The winner of the semifinal match at the 2026 Brisbane International between Sabalenka and Muchová will advance to face either Samsonova, Jessica Pegula, Mirra Andreeva, or Kostyuk in the final.