Paula Badosa sends touching message to boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas after Greek's maiden ATP 500 win at Dubai

Paula Badosa sent a touching message for her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas, as the Greek ended his ATP title drought on hard courts in Dubai and registered a memorable win after grinding it out for one hour and 28 minutes.

Interestingly, both Badosa and Tsitsipas started this week as World No. 11 in the WTA and ATP Rankings, and both of them are expected to move up on the rankings table.

Tsitsipas defeated Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Dubai Open Championships. The 26-year-old Greek came to Dubai after suffering first-round losses at the Australian Open and Qatar Open.

Paula Badosa shared the images of Stefanos Tsitsipas holding the Dubai Open trophy on her Instagram story and wrote:

"Once a champ always a champ...🫶"

Paula Badosa's Instagram story: Source (@paulabadosa)

2024 was a difficult season for both Tsitsipas and Badosa. Tsitsipas could not reach any final of the hard courts in the season.

Tsitsipas failed to win any match at the US Open and the Canadian Open in 2024 and finished the season outside the Top 10 for the first time since 2018.

On the other hand, Badosa was ranked as low as World No. 140 in 2024, before returning to the Top 20.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and girlfriend Paula Badosa expected to play at Indian Wells next

Badosa and Tsitsipas are expected to reunite at Indian Wells, as both of them could be playing there next week. Although Badosa is still on the entry list, her participation is still doubtful after her mid-match retirement this week.

Paula Badosa played the Merida Open in Mexico, where she was the second seed and defeated Jaqueline Cristian in the second round. She won the first set 6-1 against Daria Saville in the quarterfinals but retired while she was down 3-5 in the second set.

Badosa reached the semifinals at the Australian Open 2025, where she was beaten by Aryna Sabalenka. She mentioned after her quarterfinal win against Coco Gauff, that she was not sure (in 2024) if she would continue playing tennis.

"A year ago, I was here with my back [injury] that I didn't know if I had to retire from this sport, and now I'm here, playing the best in the world. I won today, I'm in the semifinals, and I never would think that a year later, I would be here," Badosa said after the game in an interaction with the media.

Paula Badosa has an 11-3 win-loss record at the BNP Paribas Open, as she won the event in 2021 after defeating the former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in a thrilling final. She missed the event in 2024 due to a back injury.