- The tennis power couple shared a loving and comical exchange on the court.
- Paula Badosa was at risk of collapsing in her Australian Open third-round match
- Her boyfriend and male competitor Stefanos Tsitsipas watched in the crowd.
Tennis power couple Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa shared a funny exchange on court at the Australian Open during a high-stakes pressure moment in a match.
Badosa was locked in a third-round contest against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the first Grand Slam of the year on Friday morning with her boyfriend and male competitor Tsitsipas taking her place in the stands.
A close match ended with Badosa finally winning in the third set and there were plenty of moments for the victor to analyze as she feared she would crumble in the second set as Kostyuk took a 5-0 lead.
Spanish star Badosa and Tsitsipas recently rekindled their relationship earlier this year following a brief split in May and the couple have been offering increasing public shows of support.
However, being in a relationship often results in people taking out stress on each other and that's exactly what Badosa comically seemed to do when Tsitsipas encouraged her to calm down.
A furious Badosa returned to her recovery area after losing a fifth consecutive game against Kostyuk and, gesturing in the direction of her boyfriend and the coaching staff, slammed her racquet and demonstrated how the strong wing was causing her problems.
Paula Badosa finally got through her Australian Open third-round match with a victory.
Tennis power couple Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa shared a funny exchange on court during the match.
An encouraging Tsitsipas (centre) urged Badosa to calm down after losing five games in her second set against Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.
An encouraging Tsitsipas responded by making hand gestures to tell his teammate to calm down, which only seemed to annoy Badosa further when she issued a peculiar response.
The women's world No. 12 star produced a host of eye-catching facial expressions during the exchange and ended up pointing her racquet in Tsitsipas' direction, evidently telling him to come and try.
The crowd and television commentators laughed at the couple's public display of encouragement, which was met with rebuttal and Badosa, much calmer after the match, later praised her partner's support.
'Tsitsipas was in the crowd. With 0-5 down you asked him if he wanted to come on the field and play…” said the post-match interviewer.
Badosa responded: “Honestly, I was saying that to my coach, he (Tsitsipas) was very supportive and gave me incredible advice, being aggressive.”
“He was supporting me at every point and I think he was more nervous than I was. I really appreciate his support here,” Badosa added.
Badosa is now waiting to find out who her opponent will be in the fourth round and is expected to be boosted by her partner who swept the competition in the first round.
Their relationship, known as 'Tsitsidosa', is high-profile and followed by several fans, with the duo winning hearts for their love for each other as well as their tennis performances.
Badosa (pictured) responded to her boyfriend's encouragement by offering him her racket.
Spanish star Badosa and Tsitsipas recently rekindled their relationship earlier this year after a brief split in May.
Stefanos is currently ranked 11th in the world, Badosa 12th; They both admit that tennis “comes first” before their relationship, but finding time for each other off the court is also important.
They first met in 2020, but it took a few years before they finally got together. Paula has revealed that Stefanos made the first move in May last year and that the duo went public in June.
And Stefanos has detailed his feelings when he first saw his now partner, explaining how he knew from the beginning that it was love.
“The first time I noticed Paula was when I saw her at the 2020 Australian Open, playing on center court,” he said. “It was love at first sight and I was completely mesmerized.”