Aryna Sabalenka in heartbreaking act with Paula Badosa after tennis return in Miami

Paula Badosa has praised the mental strength of Aryna Sabalenka after the Belarusian won in her first match since the tragic death of her former boyfriend. The tennis world was rocked this week by the devastating news of the death of Konstantin Koltsov, the long-term former partner of Sabalenka.

Police revealed that Koltsov died by apparent suicide while he and Sabalenka were both in Miami. The two-time Australian Open champion said she was “heartbroken” by Koltsov’s untimely death but revealed that they were “no longer together” when he died.

Miami Open organisers decided to delay Sabalenka’s second round match against Badosa to give the Belarusian more time to deal with her tragic loss. Badosa admitted before the match that it would be “uncomfortable” playing against her “best friend” during a period of such grief, but hailed Sabalenka’s mental resolve after going down 6-4 6-3 to the World No.2.

“She is a very, very strong woman, strong personality. You can see it on the court… I know her off court so it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Badosa said about the two-time major winner. “I knew she was going to play very well or like normal. I told her I wish her the best and let’s see if she can go deep in this tournament.”

Rain in Miami saw the match delayed by six hours but when the players finally took court, they were both dressed in all black, in a tribute to the memory of Koltsov. Sabalenka started slowly but broke to go up 4-3 in the first set, before putting her foot down in a dominant display.

Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka moment melts hearts

The Belarusian broke in the third game of the second set with a blistering cross court forehand winner and showed too much power for Badosa as she wrapped up the win in one hour 22 minutes. The players met at the net in a heartwarming embrace after the match as Badosa threw an arm around her grieving friend.

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Neither player gave an on-court interview before leaving the stadium, with Sabalenka understandably asking to be excused from media duties at the tournament. The post-match embrace between the players melted hearts around the tennis world and sparked a flood of messages from fans, praising both players for competing under such difficult circumstances.

Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa in emotional match

Badosa said before the match that it was going to be “tough” playing against her good friend but did not want to speak about the tragedy out of respect to Sabalenka. “At the end (of the day) she’s my best friend and I don’t want her to suffer,” Badosa said. “It’s a very tough situation…

The Spaniard said both players were forced to seperate their emotions from their tennis. “Honestly, both of us are pretty strong mentally. We’re strong women and she proved it and I proved it,” she said.

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“We knew how to disconnect in that two hours for the match. She played really well and I played really well given from where I am coming from (with injuries),” she added. All that comes from knowing that we’ve been through a lot in our lives and we’re strong women. We knew how to separate (things) in that moment,” she said.

Sabalenka’s win sets up a third round match against Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, who defeated former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki. Aussie Storm Hunter’s hopes were ended by Emma Navarro after she went down 6-4 6-3 off the back of five service breaks from her American opponent. Hunter fought bravely after breaking serve three times herself, but the American 20th seed closed out a tight match.

Also through to the last 32 is another American Coco Gauff, who posted a rapid 6-1 6-2 triumph over Nadia Podoroska. Ekaterina Alexandrova also went through, defeating Donna Vekic 6-3 6-4, with a number of matches suspended until Saturday in Miami due to the persistent rain.

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with agencies