Paula Badosa penned her boyfriend and fellow tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas a hertfelt 26th birthday wish earlier today. The Spaniard shared the message via her social media handle amidst a disappointing Canadian Open camapign for the pair.
Arguably the most talked about relationship in the tennis fraternity over the last year, Badosa and Tsitsipas first crossed paths last year at the Italian Open. They began dating in June and even went to the extent of giving fans regular updates into their lives via their joint Instagram account, ‘Tsitsidosa.’
Badosa and Tsitsipas sent shockwaves on May 5th, 2024, when they amicably parted ways, suggesting that they wanted to move forward on their own paths. The split laster only a couple of weeks, however, with the pair stating that they were back together.
The power couple haven’t shyed away from professing their love and admiration for one another in the past, and Badosa was at it once again for Tsitsipas’s 26th birthday. She took to her Instagram to share a collage of images containing some of their most cherished moments together, with a caption that read:
“Happy bday to my best friend…I love you.”
Badosa similarly wished Tsitsipas last year too for his 25th birthday. She described him as a ‘beautiful soul’ while going on to also concede that she feels extremely ‘lucky to share life next to you.’
Tsitsipas also penned a beautiful wish for Badosa on her 26th birthday in November last year, referring to her as his ‘Spanish warrior.’
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa’s 2024 Cincinnati Open 1R opponents
Ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is slated to open his campaign in Cincinnati against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in a blockbuster first-round clash on Tuesday, August 13. Tsitsipas is coming off a disappointing first round loss at the Canadian Open to former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori.
Struff, meanwhile, hasn’t taken to court since the Olympics where he pulled out ahead of his second round encounter against Corentin Moutet due to health reasons.
The pair have faced off eight times on tour so far and split their head-to-head evenly at four wins a piece. They’ve played twice this year– Tsitsipas won the first match in Rome while Struff won the second in Halle roughly a month later.
Paula Badosa, meanwhile, will kick off her campaign in Cincinnati against home favorite and an in-form Peyton Stearns. Badosa picked up the fourth title of her career in Washington a couple of weeks ago, but failed to replicate the same form at the Canadian Open where she went down to fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko in a closely fought second round encounter.
Stearns reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open on the contrary with emphatic wins over Madison Keys and Victoria Azarenka before going down to compatriot and defending champion Jessica Pegula.
Paula Badosa and Peyton Stearns haven’t yet faced off in professional competition previously, and the winner of the match will take on either 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya or Katerina Siniakova in the second round in Cincinnati.