5 tennis players who dated other tennis players, ft. Maria Sharapova & Grigor Dimitrov
The rigors of the ATP and WTA tours do not allow players a lot of personal space or time off the court. It's no surprise, then, that some players choose to seek love and companionship from within the tennis fraternity itself.
Whether or not relationships work better between athletes who sometimes play the same tournaments and travel together is open to debate. But it is a fact that several tennis players have opted to stay together or exchange vows.
Let's take a look at five tennis players who have dated each other.
#5. Dominic Thiem and Kristina Mladenovic
Thiem began dating Mladenovic in 2017, but the pair really started to get noticed when the French player was spotted in Thiem's box during the 2018 French Open.
Mladenovic, whose parents are Serbian, has won multiple Grand Slams in women's doubles competitions. But she has some significant wins against her name in singles as well.
Mladenovic beat World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty to give France a 2-1 in the 2019 Federation Cup. Around the same time, Thiem got past Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to reach the summit clash of the ATP Finals.
Over the last three days, the Mladenovic-Thiem household defeated:
— A world No.1 (Barty)
— A world No.2 (Djokovic)
— A world No.3 (Federer)
Best showing from a tennis couple since Graf and Agassi won Roland-Garros 1999 on consecutive days? 💞
Thiem later stated that the lack of quality time together, owing to the demands of a hectic tour schedule, took its toll on the relationship and ultimately led to the break-up.
#4. Matteo Berrettini and Ajla Tomljanovic
Matteo Berrettini dated Ajla Tomljanovic from 2019 until they parted ways in early 2022.
Croatian-born Tomljanovic, who is now an Australian citizen, was photographed with Berrettini in Austria back in 2020. The 2021 Wimbledon finalist, meanwhile, cheered for his partner during the Australian Open.
Halep saves two break points and levels at 4-4.
Berrettini meanwhile is modelling chill in Tomljanovic's box. https://t.co/tsGy2DtfyN
Rumors of a possible break-up between the two first surfaced during the 2022 Indian Wells Open, when it came to light that they had both deleted each other's photographs from their Instagram accounts.
Berrettini confirmed the news of the split before the final of the Queen's Club tournament earlier this year.
"Yeah, I'm single but it's not like something that I am looking for, like, it's not that I'm waking up and have to find love," the Italian said when asked about his relationship status. "It's just something that is happening, it's good for me, if it doesn't, it's another day, you know. But, yeah, overall, I'm spending more time with my team, I spent a lot of time with my family when I was injured, and I enjoyed a different kind of life a little bit."
#3. Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt
The two former World No. 1 players met at the 2000 Australian Open, when Clijsters' sister asked the Belgian star to get her Hewitt's autograph.
Clijsters is a four-time singles Grand Slam champion and shared a fierce and famed rivalry with compatriot Justine Henin.
Love how pretty much all Aussies love #Clijsters way more than #Lleyton . I think we'd much prefer her to be Aussie than Hewitt.. #AusOpen
Hewitt, a two-time singles Grand Slam champion, also played the 2000 Wimbledon mixed doubles final partnering Clijsters.
The two announced their split in October 2004, four months before their scheduled wedding. But Clijsters continued to be popular amongst Australian fans, who called her "Aussie Kim."
Hewitt subsequently married actress Bec Cartwright while Clijsters tied the knot with American basketball coach Brian Lynch.
#2. Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert
Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert were the fairy-tale couple of the 1970s. Both Connors and Evert won Wimbledon in 1974 while they were dating, and had a scheduled wedding in November of that year.
The wedding, however, never happened.
This week in 1974: Jimmy Connors and his fiancée Chris Evert both win Wimbledon singles titles https://t.co/ElxBW0DL9t
Connors won eight Grand Slam titles and holds the record for winning the most career titles on the ATP tour, while Evert won a whopping 18 Grand Slam singles titles during her career.
As part of a biography released 40 years later, Connors revealed that his partner's abortion, which apparently happened without his knowledge, was the cause of their estrangement. Evert, however, expressed her displeasure at the revelations.
#1. Maria Sharapova and Grigor Dimitrov
Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova dated Grigor Dimitrov from 2012 until the end of their relationship in 2015. The glamorous duo caught the media's attention both before and after they went public about being together in 2013.
The two were seen watching each other's matches before they split in 2015, but stated that they continued to be friendly thereafter.
Dimitrov asked about... Sharapova. "We kept a good friendship. She is in a good place. I wish I could tell you more".
In her book, "Unstoppable," Maria Sharapova detailed how she first got in touch with the Bulgarian and the manner in which the relationship blossomed.
"I googled Grigor’s name to find his age. Was he even legal? Twenty-one. Barely. Give him my e-mail. I remembered noticing a kid walking through Wimbledon village, tall, skinny, and carrying a type of good-looking grin that says he knows he is good-looking. I remembered telling my coach, ‘Thank goodness he didn’t exist in my generation’, that would have been dangerous. Dangerously distracting. A few back-and-forths with e-mail, and Grigor asked for my number," Sharapova wrote.
Maria Sharapova, who is four years older than Dimitrov, also revealed the reason the two parted ways in 2015.
"He had reached the semi-finals the previous year by beating Andy Murray; he lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets in that round. He pulled out a book that Wimbledon puts together of previous championships. He quietly flipped through the pages of the book until he found a picture of me, in his box, watching his match. He looked at me, sad — I thought I saw tears in his eyes — ‘Did you see this? This means everything to me. Seeing you in my box next to my mother,'" Sharapova explained in her book.
"It was then, at that moment, that the emotional pull I had been fighting came to an end. I knew, and so did he, that I couldn’t be that person at this time of my life. I was supposed to be focused, getting prepared for my own matches, my own triumphs and defeats, on the largest stage of my career," Sharapova wrote.
"I had been watching his match that day only because I’d lost early at those championships. So his good memory was my bad memory. What meant everything to him happened only because I had lost," Sharapova added.
Maria Sharapova retired from the sport in 2020. The Russian was barred from playing on the tour for 15 months due to a positive drug test for meldonium, but returned to the tour in 2017 and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open the next year.
Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov is still competing on the tour and is now ranked World No. 19.