Stefanos Tsitsipas opens up on Paula Badosa relationship – after ‘disrespectful’ criticism comments

Stefanos Tsitsipas has opened up about his relationship with Paula Badosa – just days after the WTA star slammed “disrespectful” criticism of their partnership. 

Greek star Tsitsipas and former WTA world No 2 Badosa have been together since last year, barring a brief split before the French Open this spring.

The relationship between the two-time Grand Slam finalist and his Spanish partner has been highly publicised since it first came to light, with the pair sharing a joint Instagram account called ‘Tsitsidosa’.

The former world No 3 has not been shy about opening up on the relationship, and in an interview with Downtown magazine, he revealed that the thought of dating another player never crossed his mind.

Tsitsipas also praised Badosa’s mental toughness amid her ongoing struggle with a recurring back issue.

“Having a beautiful, successful woman is not part of the game,” he said.

“I never thought I would date a tennis player and now I feel lucky. We have a lot to learn from each other, in this shared journey.

“My girlfriend suffered a lot from an injury, I could see her resilience. But those days are behind us. She has recovered and I am also in a very good mental state, knowing how to prioritize things.

“I want to manage things to live a balanced life, with success on and off the court.”

Tsitsipas’s comments come shortly after Badosa, the winner of three WTA singles titles, took aim at frequent critics of the relationship.

The 26-year-old claimed in an interview that personal criticism of her relationship was “disrespectful” and unnecessary.

She said: “I can understand criticism of my professional side, of my tennis, of whether I lose or win, but linking that to something personal seems disrespectful to me.

“Criticism is never easy to deal with, although sometimes we find it funny because people don’t realize that we are two people who share the same passion.

“Sometimes, apart from separately, we also train together, so in the end we train as much or more than anyone else.

“I could understand this criticism of distraction more if it were with a person from another world, but being two athletes with a very clear objective, what I think is that people don’t even know what they are judging.”

Tsitsipas is currently in Paris, preparing for the Olympic Games, while Badosa has decided to skip the Games and instead focus on the hard-court summer.