Tsitsipas, Badosa serve up romance

There is love in the air at Wimbledon and not just in the scores: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa are dating.

After winning her first-round match at Court 15 at the All England Club on Wednesday, Badosa made it over to the stands at No 2 Court to watch the conclusion of Tsitsipas' victory.

When Tsitsipas was told during his on-court interview that Badosa had advanced, too, he said that was news to him and offered congratulations, later referring to her as "Paulita".Standing next to his father in the crowd, Badosa put her hands together in the shape of a heart.

"It's a different kind of nerves," Badosa said in describing what it's like to be cheering for him as opposed to playing her own contests. "Watching it from the outside, maybe I get a little bit more nervous, because I cannot control it. But I'm happy that he got the win, and it was a crazy match. Happy that we both got through the first round."

Social media has been awash with photos and videos of the two lovebirds lately.

The pair will be competing as a duo in the mixed doubles competition at Wimbledon.

Their journeys to the second round of the singles draws could hardly have been more different.

Badosa needed 1 hour and 9 minutes to eliminate Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-3, 6-3. Tsitsipas required 3 hours and 56 minutes to get past 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8) in a match that began on Tuesday but was halted by rain in the second set.

Badosa, a 25-year-old who was born in New York City but represents Spain, has been ranked as high as No 2 and is currently No 35. Her best Grand Slam showing was a run to the quarterfinals at last year's French Open.

Tsitsipas, a 24-year-old from Greece, has been ranked as high as No 3 and is seeded No 5 at Wimbledon. He twice was a runner-up at major tournaments, on both occasions losing in the final to 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic — at the 2021 French Open and at this year's Australian Open.

Badosa said she watched that title match at Melbourne Park in January. "Surprising, because I never dream about tennis players, but I dreamt about him that night — that we were both winning the Australian Open," she recounted on Wednesday. "Then it was like we were having a very romantic moment, but I'm not going to explain. I'm just going to leave it there."

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA