NEW YORK – Paula Badosa one day dreamt she won the Australian Open in the same year as Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Like Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert, who in 1974 triumphed individually at Wimbledon when they were together; or similar to the case of Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi in Roland Garros 1999. While the German and the North American were not officially a couple at the time, they began their relationship shortly after that tournament.
And while Badosa is approaching the level that winning a Grand Slam requires after suffering multiple injury nightmares, her boyfriend and mixed doubles partner is heading in the opposite direction.
The New York-born Spaniard is for the first time putting in an outstanding performance at a major tournament after surviving her storm; Tsitsipas is the protagonist of his own Greek tragedy and sinks a little deeper every week. He himself acknowledged it honestly at this US Open.
‘I’m nothing compared to the tennis player I was before; I remember myself playing when I was younger with adrenaline on the court, feeling like my life depended on every match. I think that feeling has faded and my level of consistency is not as great,’ confessed the finalist at French Open 2019 and in Melbourne in 2021.
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“I remember my concentration used to be at its highest back then, and that’s something that I felt has dropped a little bit. I know it sounds strange, but I feel like I need to reproduce the hunger I had back then. I really want to regenerate it and bring it back because it brought a lot of joy to my tennis when I was able to feel that way on the court. I really don’t know why it has dropped the last couple of months. I would even consider it like one to two years I’ve been feeling that way,” added the current world No. 11, who was ranked No. 3 in 2021.
After his singles disappointment in New York, Tsitsipas had in the mixed doubles a chance to find some small consolation. With Badosa, they had not been able to debut together in Grand Slams because of the Indian Wells 2021 champion’s physical condition.
And with the privilege of competing on court with his life partner, the Greek left in that match a scene that showed the frustration that dominates his mind: he angrily threw the racket to the floor, which took Badosa by surprise and got a scare. A rare occurrence in mixed doubles, a draw in which players compete with much fewer demands, far less money on the table than singles or doubles, and no points for any ranking. Although he was in good spirits for much of the match, that moment stole the show.
The episode was brought to the Spaniard after her latest singles victory. ‘Were you scared when Stefanos threw the racket the other day?’ asked ESPN journalist Alejandro Klappenbach. She laughed and replied with a touch of humour and empathy from a colleague and partner: ‘I didn’t see him and suddenly he threw the racket, which I didn’t expect. Then I called him out! I completely understand his situation and I’m there to support him, to help him. People empathise very little, but as long as I empathise and understand him, it’s all very well’.
On Saturday night, Badosa responded to critics on social media by defending Tsitsipas, before deleting the message: ‘Frustration and stress are very normal in sport. Can you chill? Are you going to judge every step? You are very tiring!’
Tsitsipas is going through his lowest season since his breakout. While he won the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 for the third time, his overall performance has been disappointing. After the Olympics he fired his father from his coaching role, and has yet to figure out who will guide his career.
The Greek’s drop in performance coincides chronologically with the start of his relationship with Badosa. The Spaniard commented in an interview with La Vanguardia on the criticism they have both received about their performance on the court, with their personal lives at the centre of the problem.
‘Criticism is never easy to handle, although sometimes it’s even funny because people don’t realise that we are two people who share the same passion. I could understand this criticism of distraction more if it was 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. I can understand criticism of my professional side, my tennis, whether I win or lose, but to link that to something personal seems disrespectful to me”.
Today, the positive tennis results in the couple are provided by the Spanish, ready to play the quarterfinals of the US Open 2024 against local Emma Navarro at Arthur Ashe Stadium. After the resounding victory over China’s Yafan Wang in the round of 16, she left a strong sentence to understand her current level of conviction: ‘Tennis makes no sense if I’m not at the top’.
