Paula Badosa reveals how boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas 'almost had a heart attack' during her US Open 2024 3R encounter

Paula Badosa recently revealed her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas' reaction o her third-round win at the 2024 US Open. While Badosa has progressed to the fourth round at the New York Slam, Tsitsipas suffered an early exit from the tournament, losing to Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.

Badosa arrived at Flushing Meadows fresh off a title win at the Citi Open, where she defeated Marie Bouzkova in the final. She then reached the second round of the Canadian Open before being defeated by fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko. After that, the Spaniard made it to the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open before losing to sixth seed and eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula .

Seeded 26th at the 2024 US Open, Paula Badosa kicked off her campaign with convincing wins over Viktorija Golubic 6-0, 6-3 and Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-5 in the first and second rounds, respectively. Most recently, she battled past qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(8) to secure her spot in the fourth round.

During the post-match press conference, Badosa humorously recounted how her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas came running to her and informed her how he found her third-round match against Ruse to be nerve-wracking, joking that she nearly gave him a "heart attack." The Spaniard also mentioned that her family back home experiences the same kind of stress while watching her play tight matches.

“He [Stefanos Tsitsipas] came running to me and he’s like, ‘I almost had a heart attack!’ And also like when I was playing, I don’t know when it was 6–6, it just came to my mind, like Stef for sure is having a heart attack right now and also my family at home. It sometimes crosses my mind and I’m like, ‘Paula, stay here now because it’s a tough moment,’” Paula Badosa said.

Paula Badosa acknowledged that watching matches can be stressful. She revealed that even her own team gets anxious during her games . She shared that she avoids looking at them in the stands while she's on the court.

“But yeah of course I think from the outside it’s so tough to watch. Even like my team when they’re watching on the court, I know they’re suffering so much. So sometimes I don’t wanna look there either because I know they’re having a heart attack but it is how it is. So I’m sorry for them,” she added.

Paula Badosa will face Wang Yafan in US Open 2024 4R

Paula Badosa will go up against Wang Yafan in the fourth round of the 2024 US Open.

Yafan kicked off her campaign at the New York Slam by moving past ninth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round, as the Greek withdrew from the match in the second set due to shoulder and neck issues, with the score reading 6-2, 0-0 ret. She then went on to defeat Diane Parry with a score of 6-0, 6-4 in the second round.

Most recently, the World No.80 caused an upset by defeating two-time Grand Slam champion and 20th seed Victoria Azarenka with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the third round to secure her spot in the fourth round where she will face Badosa.

Paula Badosa and Wang Yafan have faced each other only once on the WTA tour, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Korea Open, where Yafan emerged victorious with a score of 6-1, 6-3.