"Disrespectful to me" - Paula Badosa hits back at critics attributing her form struggles & losses to romance with boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas
Paula Badosa has spoken up about being under constant scrutiny for her persistent struggles with form, and how those struggles continue to be linked to her relationship with Stefanos Tsitsipas. Since the pair made their romance public, both Badosa and Tsitsipas have often come under fire for seemingly letting their private lives affect their performances on the court.
It became apparent that Badosa, a former WTA World No. 2, and Tsitsipas, a former ATP World No. 3, were dating in June last year. Unsurprisingly, significant media attention followed, and it was Tsitsipas who first bore the brunt of it. The Greek's form nosedived, and there was increasing chatter suggesting that his relationship with Badosa was to blame for his on-court woes.
At the time, Badosa was struggling with injury, eventually cutting short her season following her second-round retirement at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships in a bid to recover for the ongoing season. The former World No. 2 returned at the start of the season at the Adelaide International, and since then, has played several tournaments, but without managing to rediscover her best form. Her most recent outing saw her reach the fourth round at Wimbledon before bowing out to eventual semifinalist Donna Vekic.
Amid her topsy-turvy form, she also broke up with Tsitsipas for a couple of weeks in May, before reuniting. This led to her own on-court struggles being questioned, with suggestions rife that her romantic involvement with the Greek has been partly at fault for her erratic performances.
Recently, Badosa addressed the issue in an interview with La Vanguardia. The Spaniard acknowledged that it has been hard to deal with the criticism that has come her and Tsitsipas' way, but went on to opine that in all likelihood, it is stemming from people who don't understand what they are talking about.
"Criticism is never easy to deal with, although sometimes we find it funny because people don't realise that we are two people who share the same passion. Sometimes, apart from separately, we also train together, so in the end we train as much or more than anyone else. I could understand this criticism of distraction more if it were 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," Badosa said.
The former WTA World No. 2 further stated that she feels it is "disrespectful" for people to say that her and Tsitsipas' performances have been affected by their relationship.
"Personally, what bothers me the most is that people talk about other people's realities. I can understand criticism of my professional side, of my tennis, of whether I lose or win, but linking that to something personal seems disrespectful to me," Badosa added.
"Now we want to keep our relationship to ourselves" - Paula Badosa after reuniting with Stefanos Tsitsipas
At a pre-tournament press conference in the buildup to this year's French Open, Badosa laid bare her and Tsitsipas' intentions to keep their relationship more low-profile going forward. However, the Spaniard admitted that it would be difficult for them to do so due to their status as two high-profile figures in modern-day tennis.
"He already explained and I have nothing else to say, I mean, it's our private life. I think one of the things that we didn't like is that it was very public, so now we want to keep it to ourselves. We know it's not going to be easy because we are two public people so people will ask, but we want to keep it more to ourselves," Badosa said.
Badosa is yet to confirm where she will play next, while Tsitsipas recently reached the semifinals of the Swiss Open Gstaad, where he lost to eventual champion Matteo Berrettini.