Good friends both on and off the court, Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa recently kicked off their 2026 season at the Brisbane International. They are competing together in the doubles event and were spotted wearing matching Nike outfits during their match.
How Did Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa Turn Heads at the Brisbane International Doubles?
In addition to playing doubles, Sabalenka and Badosa will also compete in the singles event. The World No. 1 is the defending champion, having won the title in 2025 by defeating Polina Kudermetova in the final. Meanwhile, Badosa faced a tough start last year, losing to Elina Avanesyan in her opening match at the WTA 500 tournament.
At the 2026 Brisbane International, during the doubles event, Sabalenka and Badosa faced the duo of Liudmila Samsonova and Zhang Shuai in the first round. They won the match with a scoreline of 7-6(2), 7-6(3), advancing to the quarterfinals.
During their match, both players flaunted matching Nike outfits. They wore lemon-yellow Nike Court Advantage tennis tops, paired with dark green Nike Court Advantage Dri-FIT tennis skirts. Sabalenka joined the American athletic apparel and equipment company in 2017, while Badoda joined two years later, in 2019.
👯♀️ Twinning!
Sabadosa’s style is on point. As always.#BrisbaneInternational pic.twitter.com/6rOUHpuJ8T
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) January 4, 2026
Looking ahead, Sabalenka and Badosa will face the third-seeded pairing of Cristina Bucșa and Ellen Perez in the quarterfinals of the doubles event at the 2026 Brisbane International.
Who Will Sabalenka and Badosa Face at the Brisbane International Singles?
In the singles event of the 2026 Brisbane International, Sabalenka is the top seed, while Badosa is seeded 15th. Both players will begin their campaigns in the second round after receiving first-round byes.
In her opening match, Sabalenka will face the winner of the first-round match between Marianna Bucșa and qualifier Anna Bondár. The World No. 1 and Bucșa have met only once on the WTA Tour, in the fourth round of the 2025 US Open, which Sabalenka won with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-4.
On the other hand, Sabalenka and Bondár have also played against each other once. Their match took place in 2015 during the semifinals of an ITF tournament in Antalya, Turkey, where the Belarusian triumphed with a score of 7-6(5), 7-6(4). She went on to defeat Nicoleta Dascălu in the final, winning the tournament.
Meanwhile, Badosa will start her campaign at the 2026 Brisbane International by facing Marie Bouzková in her opening match. The Czech advanced to the second round by defeating Jaqueline Cristian in the first round with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3.
Badosa and Bouzková have played against each other four times on the WTA Tour, with the Spaniard winning all four encounters. Their most recent match was in the second round of the 2025 Internationaux de Strasbourg, where Badosa secured the win after Bouzková retired during the first set due to a left thigh injury.
