"There’s more going on on a daily basis than just playing tennis": Jimmy Connors shares advice to Stefanos Tsitsipas amid highly publicized relationship with Paula Badosa
ATP
After tennis stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa made their relationship public, members of the tennis community have given their two cents on their entanglement. Retired ATP star Jimmy Connors is one of several who tried to give the Greek star advice on maintaining a balance between his personal and professional life.
Tsitsipas and Badosa have been a couple since June 2023, with the duo set to celebrate their one year anniversary in a few months. They have both been vocal about their relationship, and are quick to express their support for each other. However, both have seen a dip in form during over the past year.
Connors believes Tsitsipas should focus on himself
Badosa missed most of the 2023 season due to injury. Her ranking has seen her drop out of the top 100, due to inactivity and loss of form when she does take to the court. Alternatively, Tsitsipas also suffered a dip in form after winning only one title in 2023. The Greek star dropped out of the ATP Top 10 for the first time in five years on February 19, 2024. However, his recent title win in Monte-Carlo and runner-up appearance at the Barcelona Open has seen him rise back to World No.7.
On a recent episode of the Advantage Connors Podcast, Connors and his son Brett examined the effect of Tsitsipas' relationship with Badosa on the ATP star's current form.
"You’re kind of waiting like thinking this guy [Stefanos Tsitsipas] has Grand Slam potential so for him to fall out of the Top 10 doesn’t seem right and then he’s got into a highly publicized relationship with Paula Badosa so some of the criticism has been directed at that, he’s distracted maybe or whatever," said Brett.
"Listen, life is life, I mean there’s more going on on a daily basis than just playing tennis," responded Jimmy Connors. "But you’ve got to remember that is your life at the time, that doesn’t go forever. So try to keep your mind on your business and relationships are important, family is important. You’ve got to adjust to that and it’s not physical in the game, it’s your mind and how you accept that within yourself."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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