Hilarious moment Paula Badosa offers boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas her racquet after he told her to CALM DOWN during Australian Open clash
Tennis power couple Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa shared a hilarious courtside exchange at the Australian Open during a high-stakes moment of pressure in a match.
Badosa was locked in a third round contest against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk at the opening Grand Slam of the year on Friday morning with her boyfriend and men’s competitor Tsitsipas taking his place in the stands.
A close-fought match ended with Badosa eventually winning in the third set and there were plenty of moments for the victor to scrutinise as she feared unravelling 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 pair have been putting on ever-growing public shows of support.
However, being in a relationship often results in individuals taking out their stresses on each other and that’s exactly what Badosa appeared to do in comical fashion as Tsitsipas encouraged her to calm down.
A furious Badosa returned to her cooldown area having lost a fifth consecutive game against Kostyuk and gesturing in the direction of her boyfriend and coaching staff hit her raquet and demonstrated how the strong wing was causing her problems.
Paula Badosa eventually came through her third round Australian Open match with a win
Tennis power couple Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa shared a hilarious courtside exchange during the match
An encouraging Tsitsipas (middle) urged Badosa to calm down as she lost five games in her second set contest against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk
An encouraging Tsitsipas responded by making hand gestures telling his partner to calm down which only appeared to annoy Badosa further as she issued a quirky response.
The women’s world No.12 star produced a myriad of eye-catching facial expressions during the exchange and ended by gesturing her raquet in the direction of Tsitsipas evidently telling him to come and have a go instead.
The crowd and television commentators laughed at the couples public display of encouragement being met by rebuttal and a much calmer post-match Badosa later praised her partner’s support.
‘Tsitsipas was in the crowd. At 0-5 down you asked if he wanted to come on court & play…’ said the post-match interviewer.
Badosa replied: ‘I was saying that to my coach honestly, he [Tsitsipas] was very supportive giving me amazing tips, going for it being aggressive.
‘He was supporting me every point and I think he was more nervous than me. I really appreciate his support here,’ added Badosa.
Badosa is now waiting to discover who her fourth round opponent will be and is expected to be boosted by her partner who carashed out the competition in the first round.
Their relationship, known as ‘Tsitsidosa’, is high-profile and followed by a number of fans, with the duo winning hearts for their love for each other as well as their performances in tennis.
Badosa (pictured) responded to her boyfriend’s encouragement by offering him her raquet
Spanish star Badosa and Tsitsipas recently rekindled their relationship earlier this year following a brief split in May
Stefanos is currently ranked 11 in the world, Badosa 12th – they both admit that tennis ‘comes first’ ahead of their relationship, but finding time for each other off the court is evidently important too.
They first met in 2020 but it took a few years for them to finally get together. Paula has revealed that Stefanos made the first move in May last year, with the duo going public in June.
And Stefanos has detailed his feelings of when he first saw his now-partner, explaining how he knew from the start that it was love.
‘The first time I noticed Paula was when I saw her at the 2020 Australian Open, playing on Centre Court,’ he said. ‘It was love at first sight and I was completely mesmerised.’
