Professional Greek tennis player and world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas will face off in the Wimbledon second round against Andy Murray, who will have his fellow tennis celebrity girlfriend Paula Badosa watching.
Former world number two Badosa unexpectedly showed up to witness Tsitsipas defeat Dominic Thiem in his opening match in the first round, receiving a warm reception.
Badosa held a love heart symbol while in the audience, and an interviewer told Tsitsipas: “Paula made it over here after winning her match to watch you.”
To which he replied: “Oh! I just found out. I had no idea. Congratulations.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas on Paula Badosa attending his match:
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 5, 2023
Interviewer: “Paula made it over here after winning her match to watch you”
Stef: “Oh! I just found out. I had no idea. Congratulations” 😂
Paula puts a heart up. ❤️ 🫶 pic.twitter.com/ENuMAAQfIC
But who are the celebrity couple taking on Wimbledon?
Who is Stefanos Tsitsipas?
Stefanos Tsitsipas is a 24-year-old Greek tennis player.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has ranked him as high as world number three, a position he first attained on August 9, 2021, making him, together with Maria Sakkari, the highest-ranked Greek player in history.
The 2019 ATP Finals champion, Tsitsipas, was the event’s first winner under the age of 30 in the previous 18 years. He has competed in two major finals in the 2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open, finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic both times.
He has won nine ATP singles titles, including two Masters 1000 titles. On August 29, 2022, he attained a doubles ranking of number 64, which is a career high.
Tsitsipas was exposed to tennis at the age of three and started taking lessons at the age of six. He was born into a tennis family; his father Apostolos was a tennis instructor and his mother Julia was a professional on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour.
He topped the world rankings when he was a junior. With his triumph in the 2016 Wimbledon boys’ doubles competition, he also became the third Greek player and the first Greek man in the Open Era to win a junior Grand Slam championship.
Tsitsipas is an aggressive baseliner who can also play all around the court, very much like Roger Federer. He uses an Eastern grip on his forehand and attempts to hit big groundstroke winners.
He has been dating Badosa publicly since the French Open in April 2023.
Tsitsipas’ game against Murray will start at 8.05pm today.
Who is Paula Badosa?
Badosa is a 25-year-old Spanish tennis player.
The WTA has her ranked as high as number two in the world in singles, which she attained on April 25, 2022, and number 124 in doubles, which she also attained on that date.
She has won three WTA Tour singles championships, and her run to the 2021 French Open quarterfinals was her highest finish at a Grand Slam event. Later that year, she earned her biggest career victory to date by winning the Indian Wells Open, a WTA 1000 competition.
Badosa is a competitive baseliner whose powerful serve and groundstrokes are the focal points of her game.
Badosa moved to Barcelona when she was seven and it was there, at Club Tennis d’Aro, that she started to play tennis. At the age of 14, she moved to Valencia in order to progress in tennis but, three years later, she returned to Barcelona.
The Spanish player is also competing at Wimbledon this year. Tomorrow, she has a second-round women’s singles game against Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk.
