Aryna Sabalenka has won forgiveness from her friend Paula Badosa after buying her a gift (Image: Getty)
stayed true to her word after promising to give a special gift to close friend .
The pair have been enjoying a humorous public exchange after having ended her dreams of winning her first Major at the .
The tennis stars met each other on the court in the semi-finals in Melbourne knowing that only one could progress, with Sabalenka the clear favourite.
And the world No.1 made light work of Badosa, breezing to a 6-4, 6-2 victory to seal her place in the final – only for the two-time winner to lose to Madison Keys.
Still, the 27-year-old took away a massive £955,000 in prize money from her run to the final to add to her eye-watering career earnings of around £25million.
In her post-match press conference, Sabalenka vowed to go shopping with Badosa while they were in Australia and buy whatever she wanted, joking she would implement a ‘limit’ on her expenditure.
“Paula, we go shopping and I pay for whatever you want,” Sabalenka said.
“I hope she’s going to still be here [in Australia] and [if so] we [will] go shop. I’m going to put a limit for her, you know, because she can go crazy.”
After watching Sabalenka bank her six-figure winnings, the Spaniard said she would only forgive her pal for ending her Grand Slam dream if the present was an expensive one.
Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka embraced after the latter’s win in Australia (Image: Getty)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
“Something really expensive then. It’s going to be something really expensive because now I think she doubled the prize money,” Badosa said while smiling. “I think she won’t have a problem with that. I will think about it.”
The Belarusian stayed true to her word, gifting the present to Badosa and posting the moment on social media.
Badosa, sat at a table with a male companion, opened the package to reveal what appeared to be a friendship bracelet – and her wholesome reaction indicated she was delighted with the thought behind it.
Watching her unwrap, Sabalenka posted a video to her three million followers on and captioned it: “She said she forgave me [crying-laughing emoji] @paulabadosa.”
Aryna Sabalenka captured Paula Badosa’s reaction on her Instagram Story (Image: Instagram/@arynasabalenka)
The two have shared pictures with their millions of followers of them out and about going for dinner, experiencing adventures and visiting countries like Dubai and Canada together on holiday.
They even refer to each other as their ‘soulmates’ both on social media and in person, although it should be stated that it was made in jest – both players are currently in relationships, with Badosa dating world No.12 .
Sabalenka and Badosa will be back in action as they reunite in Doha for the Qatar Open, which begins on Sunday, February 9.