"A very rare thing" - Stefanos Tsitsipas believes he & Paula Badosa would have found the same love even if they weren't tennis players

Stefanos Tsitsipas recently made a few heartwarming statements when speaking about his relationship with girlfriend and fellow tennis player Paula Badosa.

In an interview ahead of the 2023 Vienna Open currently underway with Austrian broadcaster Servus TV, the World No. 7 believed that the duo were destined to be with each other even if they weren't tennis players.

Tsitsipas said (via a video reshared on X by @OnlyTsitsidosa):

"I honestly think that even if we wouldn't have been tennis players, we would have found the same passion and love for each other. It just happened to come from tennis, which is a beautiful story because my journey started from tennis and her journey started from tennis."

The Greek believed that the connection shared by the two was "rare". He added:

"I feel like we so much belong to each other, it's one of a very rare thing and I feel like, I don't want to sound cliche or cheesy but that's how it is."

Tsitsipas said that being tennis players, both Tsitsipas and Badosa were 'clear and certain' about the life that they shared.

"It's difficult to find a person that's going to understand the life of a tennis player and subscribe to it and say 'this is what I want to do' and in case of Paula I feel like, there's nothing that is misunderstood or not in the same path, clear and certain."

Badosa, who was born in New York but plays under the Spanish flag, is currently ranked No. 67 in the world. She achieved her career-high singles ranking in April last year when she was the world No. 2.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas progresses to 2R of Vienna Open

Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 Shanghai Masters

Stefanos Tsitsipas opened his 2023 Vienna Open campaign with a straight-set victory over Dominic Thiem on Tuesday, October 24.

The Greek matched home-hope Thiem toe-to-toe and won the first set tie-break. He upped his game in the second round, saving three break points from Thiem overall in the match to eventually seal his victory, 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 59 minutes.

The win brings the World No. 7 a step closer to his second title of the season after his Los Cabos Open victory. In a post-match on-court interview, Tsitsipas spoke about his mentality during the match and his opponent's high-level performance.

“He made it difficult, as always. Every single match that we have played this year has been on the edge, and it wouldn’t be any different this time.

"I really had to come up with some good shots towards the end and there were some extraordinary rallies that were being played during the course of the match", he said via ATPTour.com

Stefanos Tsitsipas will next play against Tomas Machac in the second round of the tournament on Thursday, October 26.