Stefanos Tsitsipas great friend of French tennis: defeated in Antwerp by Arthur Fils and by Ugo Humbert in Shanghai, the world number 6 avenged the latter less than 24 hours after his defeat against Zverev by sharply beating the German in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 from Paris-Bercy. After Auger-Aliassime in the first round, the Greek offers himself a second big name in a row, a week after his semi-final in Vienna.
No offense to his misogynistic followers, who have made his partner Paula Badosa responsible for the Greek’s catastrophic summer, Tsitsipas is capable of reconciling victories and married life. Family life, too: on October 22, he won his first doubles title in Antwerp with his brother, Petros. And who guesses who the coach was? “Not many people know this but [Paula] was the first person to spend three or four hours with us at the US Open training us for the doubles, he told Tennis Channel. She was there, she prepared us for these types of matches. »
Several weeks earlier, he had defended the player. “It’s sickening to blame a woman. It’s always the girlfriend who gets blamed for the sudden losing streak. » Ask Matteo Berrettini. Since being in a relationship with TV presenter Melissa Satta, it is being attacked from all sides. She will be responsible for all his injuries, with all the disgusting innuendoes that go with it. “I am an exposed woman, and from time to time you have to find a scapegoat,” she finally reacted. In every athlete’s life, injuries are difficult to overcome. In tennis, they are more emphasized and lead to these consequences. »
Silliness and erotic dream
Their detractors can think whatever they want, including retrograde rubbish, but Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa don’t care. “We are criticized, but all your bullets ricochet,” the lovebirds warned on their joint Instagram account in July. Yes, you read correctly, a joint account. As an adult, we do this with a banker, as a teenager, it’s on the networks (in both cases we end up regretting it). The Greek and the Spaniard, both 25 years old, chose the second camp even if it sometimes meant pushing back the barriers of “cringe”. Paula thus saw fit to recount one day at a press conference an erotic dream in which Stefanos played the leading role. We have read, you will read.
“I was injured in Australia. I watched his match, the final. It’s surprising, because I never dream about tennis players, but I dreamed about him that night, that we both won the Australian Open. Then it’s like we’re having a very romantic moment, but I’m not going to explain it. I’ll leave it there. »
Other less embarrassing and funnier stories appear in Badosa’s register, such as the boat trip off the Greek islands which turned into seasickness for the former world number 2. “I had a bad trip because it was very windy, as is often the case there. Stefanos warned me that it wasn’t always a good experience. I got a little sick, but to be honest, once we got to the islands it was fantastic. »
Tsitsipas, for his part, is more of a romantic style, with an enthusiasm that smacks of the first great love or almost, navigating with agility on the border between the cute and the saccharine. “It’s as if we share the same identity: same lifestyle, same desires, same passions, same ambitions,” declared the Greek for example when making his haircut official in the press. It’s wonderful to experience it every day. It’s very rare that these things happen. »
Madison Keys “a little jealous” of Tsitsipas and Badosa
In short, Tsitsidosa is nothing other than the improved version of the couples who roll their skates in the metro during rush hours to ensure that the entire planet is aware of their happiness: deep down, they disgust us as much as we kindly envy them. Maddison Keys, 11th in the world, would like to do the same with her boyfriend, Bjorn Fratangelo, also a tennis player (ex-top 100 ATP).
“Their content is much more organized than Bjorn and I’s. They produced much more than us in six years. Honestly, I’m a little jealous, because Bjorn and I hardly have any photos together. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for them, which is great. We are so secretive that people constantly ask us if we are still together. » In the event of a breakup, on the other hand, they will be happy: no need to delete the joint photos on Insta or to justify themselves to the press, like, by chance, Thiem and Mladenovic at the time of separation after two years of romance between the Austrian and the polyglot.
Monfils-Svitolina, the original couple
In the box of star couples, how can we not mention the royal couple Gaël Monfils-Elina Svitolina? Together since 2019, married since 2021 and parents of little Skaï since 2022, they also have a joint Insta account (definitely, kitsch doesn’t kill) where there is a lot of talk about selfies together. By digging a little deeper, we find the same grandiloquent romanticism, the same responses to the celebrity press, based on “we live our love to the fullest”, the detailed love anecdotes, such as the Monf’s marriage proposal to Svitolina at the bend of a hike and for which the Frenchman had “even prepared a text”.
Half endearing, half unbearable by this propensity to make a fuss of them. One wonders if they have not indirectly shaped Tsitsidosa as the similarities are so striking. The Franco-Ukrainian couple, father of all the others on the circuit? Not so fast. This would insult the great romantic history of the yellow ball and turn a blind eye to such legendary couples as Dimitrov-Sharapova, Mirka-Roger, Verdasco-Ivanovic, Clijsters-Hewitt and, of course, Graff-Agassi. Each in their own style has had their hour of glory. Tsitsipas and Badosa are right in it: let’s take advantage of these two monsters.