Tennis News Today: Stefanos Tsitsipas & girlfriend Paula Badosa walk side by side at Swiss Indoors; Andy Roddick makes his feelings known about Jannik Sinner's $6M Six Kings Slam paycheck
Stefanos Tsitsipas and his girlfriend Paula Badosa reunited after a long time at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where the Greek is currently competing. Andy Roddick shared his thoughts on Jannik Sinner's impressive $6 million paycheck at the Six Kings Slam.
Emma Raducanu issued a statement following her withdrawal from the Hong Kong Open, citing a lack of full preparation. Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios received a doubles invitation from Jack Sock as he plans to make his return to action in 2025.
On that note, here's a quick recap of the day's biggest headlines:
Stefanos Tsitsipas and his girlfriend Paula Badosa reunite at Swiss Indoors Basel
Stefanos Tsitsipas and his girlfriend Paula Badosa have reunited at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The Spaniard joined her boyfriend after ending her season by withdrawing from the Tokyo Open, citing health issues.
Badosa took to her Instagram account a few days ago to share her announcement, saying she is now preparing to represent Spain in the Billie Jean King Cup.
"Because of health issues I wasn’t able to play yesterday and won’t be able to play Tokyo unfortunately. My 2024 season has ended. Has been a very long season where I overcame situations, I thought they were impossible," she wrote.
"I’m very proud of myself. I’m back where I wanted to be and where I was aiming since my comeback. (one of the best players in the world again) Already looking forward to recover well and prepare to represent my country in Malaga for BJKC. Thank you for the support always. See you soon," she added.
Two days later, the former Indian Wells champion traveled to Basel to join Tsitsipas, who has reached the Round of 16 at the ATP 500 tournament and is set to face Botic van de Zandschulp next. The couple was spotted walking side by side, and the moment quickly made its way onto social media.
Watch the video below:
Andy Roddick reacts to Jannik Sinner's $6M Six Kings Slam paycheck
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune recently participated in the Six Kings Slam. It was an exhibition event, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and featured top players competing in an exciting format ahead of their regular season commitments.
Sinner won the exhibition, defeating his arch-rival Alcaraz in the final, and earned a staggering $6 million in prize money. Meanwhile, all the other participants received $1.5 million for their participation.
In the latest episode of his podcast, Served with Andy Roddick, Roddick addressed Sinner's hefty paycheck, saying:
"It definitely doesn't make me sick to my stomach that he (Jannik Sinner) made more than 25% of my career prize money in three days of exhibition tennis."
Emma Raducanu clarifies the Hong Kong Open withdrawal
Emma Raducanu's struggles persist as she has withdrawn from yet another tournament due to a foot injury, casting doubt on her participation in next month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Raducanu took to her X (formerly Twitter) account to explain her withdrawal from the Hong Kong Open, stating that she is not currently in the best condition to compete. This marks her fifth missed tournament since sustaining the injury during her quarterfinal match against Daria Kasatkina at the Korea Open.
"Hellooo, I’m sorry to say that I will not be able to play in Hong Kong next week. Whilst my foot is making good progress, I need a little more time before I am match fit. I hope to be able to come back and play this tournament in the future! In the meantime, I am doing what I can to be ready for BJKC," the former US Open champion wrote.
Jack Sock offers Nick Kyrgios doubles invitation in Indian Wells 2025
Nick Kyrgios has been sidelined since last year due to a series of injuries that required surgery. He has been in recovery since then and has even taken on a pundit role for major networks such as BBC and ESPN.
The Aussie recently announced during a panel discussion at SXSW (South By Southwest) in Sydney that he will be returning to the Tour at the 2025 Australian Open.
"I will be playing the Australian Open this summer,” he said. "I just miss being out there playing in front of a home crowd. We’ve got such a crowd of guys at the moment like Alex de Minaur playing amazing tennis."
Following that, Kyrgios received an invitation from retired tennis star Jack Sock, now a professional pickleball player, to team up for doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells next year.
"You think BNP Paribas Open is ready for this doubles duo in 2025?" Sock commented under Kyrgios' latest Instagram post.
The former Wimbledon finalist replied:
"Yessssiiirrrrr."