Tennis power couple 'break up' after both players crash out at Wimbledon

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa have reportedly decided to break, with the pair calling time on their relationship after they were both knocked out of Wimbledon
Tennis stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa have reportedly broken up after they both crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round. The couple went public with their relationship in 2023, before Badosa announced in May last year that they "amicably" decided to part ways.
Less than a month later, they rekindled their relationship but reports from Spain are now claiming the couple have called it quits for a second time. The news comes after both Tsitsipas and Badosa were knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round on Monday.
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Tsitsipas retired with a back injury after going two sets down against French qualifier Valentin Royer, while Badosa was beaten 6-2 3-6 6-4 by British number two Katie Boulter. According to Spanish magazine Hola, Tsitsipas and Badosa broke up due to the demands of their tennis careers, with injury problems playing a role.
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The magazine quotes a source close to the pair as saying: "The breakup just happened. They both lost in the first round in London and everything has come together for them. [They] were going through a rough patch professionally, with injuries, and that affected their relationship.
"They're not well, of course. It's normal for any couple that breaks up. They had started the year very well, and their dream has been shattered. It's a healthy breakup and there were no third parties or family influences, as is starting to be said.
"[They] have struggled to make their relationship work, but ultimately it hasn't worked out. Ghosts from the past have returned, marked by the injuries they have both suffered. [The split is] between adults who loved each other very much, and it was a mature decision."
Speaking after his first round exit, Tsitsipas admitted that his injury struggles had made him "miserable" as he has been "battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes".
Tsitsipas said: "I'm battling many wars these days. It's really painful to see myself in a situation like this. One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I've never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back.
"Since that time, I've been very fragile with my body, and I've been battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes, which has been a difficult battle. So I really don't know. I mean, I feel completely - I feel like I'm left without answers.
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"I don't know. I've tried everything. I've done an incredible job with my fitness. I've done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I've maximised on everything that I possibly can do. Right now I'm just absolutely left with no answers. I don't know what to do. If I don't feel good with myself and my body, then I can't really show anything.
"It's probably the most difficult situation that I've ever been faced with, because it's an ongoing issue that doesn't seem to be disappearing or fading off as much. Myself, as a person, I have a limit at some point, so I'll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months.
"This is going to be hard, but if I see it going in that trajectory, there is no point in competing. If I'm not healthy, and I've talked about health so many times, if health is not there, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable."