ALMATY – Travel, practice, matches. A tennis player’s life revolves around their career 24/7, and when you add a partner who does the same, things can get complicated.
Or at least that is how Stefanos Tsitsipas feels. Without naming Paula Badosa directly, he looked back on their former relationship.
“I have found more peace and tranquillity from not being with someone that does the same thing as me. As a creative person, I like to escape my world whenever I’m not in it, and it’s very difficult to do so when you’re with someone that shares exactly what you do,” he said in Almaty.
The Greek, who is currently in a relationship with model and influencer Kristen Thoms, explained how complicated it can be at times to share your life with someone in the same profession: “There’s a lot of anxiety. There’s a lot of uncertainty, and my whole life almost duplicates around tennis, when in fact I want to be more in control of what I want to do in my life and how I want to live my life,” he said.
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Tsitsipas’s relationship with the Spaniard began in 2023 and lasted until mid-2025, and throughout that time it was a constant focus of attention for fans and the media. They even set up a joint Instagram account, and the tournaments themselves and the ATP seized every opportunity to show the couple’s private moments.
“Having a private life for me is the most important thing. I was never a fan of being in the public eye, especially when I’m with someone. I’m a private person. That made me feel very uncomfortable. I’ve never shared that with people before, but I don’t thrive in that environment. I like some things for myself, and I believe that not everything needs to be shared with the world,” he said.
This year the relationship was back in the spotlight after Badosa, at Wimbledon 2026, spoke of “toxic” situations surrounding the break-up: “What I and those around me have gone through over the course of a year has been very difficult. Everything comes out in the end. But he’s a person I don’t want to name any more or spend much energy on,” she said at the time.
The former world No. 3 responded at the time without getting drawn into controversy, and now, in Almaty, he spoke about the moments that led to the split: “That is not an excuse for not being with someone, because obviously when you love someone and you really care for someone, you will move mountains in order to be with them and spend time with them. But one thing that I personally felt is that it’s too much,” he said.
