Watch out tennis world, there’s a new power couple and they’re taking over the internet.
Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas and Spanish star Paula Badosa have set tongues wagging online with fans believing the two have become one.
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Eagle-eyed fans spotted Badosa, the 29th ranked woman in the world, sitting in the stands as Tsitsipas played.
But the Spanish 25-year-old tried to go under cover with a baseball cap on and large sunnies as she sat by herself a bit away from the action.
The photo came as the fifth-seeded Tsitsipas took on world number one Carlos Alcaraz in a quarterfinal showdown at the French Open.
Alcaraz proved too strong as he advanced 6-2, 6-1, 7-6. But it was the sighting of Badosa in the stands that had fans losing their minds.
Internet sleuths then quickly went to work as they dug into the profiles of both famous players, looking to unearth the true in their connection.
It didn’t take long before brand new profile pictures on their Spotify accounts were picked up, which only poured fuel on the fire of the rumours.
In the profile pictures both had previously unseen selfies of one another.
As tennis fans struggled to contain themselves, Tsitsipas and Badosa reacted to the noise by posting about their profile changes.
Tsitsipas pledged to cut out “naps and melatonin” after admitting virtually sleepwalking into his French Open defeat.
“One thing that I’m going to try to avoid in the future is have melatonin pills and naps before matches because it clearly doesn’t seem to be working,” said Tsitsipas of his pre-match routine.
Melatonin in tablet form is often taken to treat sleep disorders. Tsitsipas, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Paris in 2021, only woke up to the task at hand in the eighth game of the third set on Tuesday.
He saved two match points and then another in the 10th game as he pulled back from 2-5 down to 5-5 before Alcaraz eased through the tie-break.
It was the 20-year-old Spaniard’s fifth win in as many meetings with Tsitsipas.
“I feel like melatonin really likes 1 and 2,” he said, referring to the set outcomes.
“It wasn’t really that much fun out there in the first two sets. I felt completely off, kind of like sleeping in a way. I just wish it never happens again. It sucks.”
Despite his defeat, Tsitsipas hailed US Open champion Alcaraz, who will face 22-time major winner Djokovic in a blockbuster semi-final on Friday.
However, the 24-year-old Greek said he found it impossible to pick a winner. “One has experience; the other one has legs and moves like Speedy Gonzalez,” he explained.
“One can hit huge, super big shots; and the other one prefers control over anything else, probably control and precision, to apply pressure and just make the opponent move as much as possible.”
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