Sabalenka defeats Badosa in battle of the besties

“It’s tough to play your best friend,” Sabalenka said on court after her 15th career Roland-Garros victory put her in the second week in Paris for the second time. “She’s an incredible player, coming back after injury. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be back at the top very soon. 

“It’s very tough, but on court we are opponents, I’m trying not to watch the other side, just trying to focus on myself and just bring my best game.”

Story of the match 

Riding a streak of six consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals, against a player who has never been beyond the quarter-finals of a major, Sabalenka tapped into her self-belief late in the opening set after a shaky run that saw her broken twice in succession to trail 5-3. 

Nothing but a speed bump for the world No.2, who flipped the script and reeled off 16 of the final 20 points of the first set to move ahead 7-5 in 52 minutes. 

“I just tried to play my best and fight for every point,” Sabalenka said. “The conditions were very tough and I knew that the serve was actually not a big advantage – I knew that I could come back in this match.” 

It wasn’t the cleanest set from either player, but it did feature breathtaking power tennis from both. Badosa was particularly effective with her backhand early, hitting several down-the-line winners that caught Sabalenka off guard – she hit five backhand winners in the set, and eight overall.

Sabalenka gained the most purchase against Badosa’s serve, ruthlessly going for winners with her second serve return and wearing down the Spaniard’s confidence as the match continued.

Badosa only managed one hold in the second set as one-way traffic flowed in Sabalenka’s favour until the finish. Said finish came swiftly, in just 77 minutes, with Badosa surrendering breaks in seven of her ten service games overall. 

Ten on the trot 

The 2024 Australian Open champion stretches her Grand Slam winning streak to 10 consecutive victories and improves to 14-3 on clay this season (28-6 on the surface since the start of 2023). 

A semi-finalist last year in Paris, second-seeded Sabalenka moves on to face either Madison Keys or Emma Navarro in the fourth round. The 26-year-old has now won 33 of her last 36 matches at the majors. 

Aryna’s evolution 

Sabalenka’s use of the drop shot continues to impress on the clay. Juxtaposed with her bristling power, she has done an excellent job of incorporating the shot when she has her opponents backed up behind the baseline. 

She hit five drop shot winners against Badosa, many of them eliciting gasps of appreciation from the fans inside Chatrier. 

Sabalenka has hit 11 drop shot winners across her three matches in Paris this week. 

“Some days it is actually getting more complicated to play, you have so many options and you are thinking too much,” she said. “But today was a day that I wasn’t thinking too much, I was just feeling the game. I was trusting myself and going for all those shots.” 

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