Paula Badosa has shared the heartfelt, 10-word message her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas said to her when she was considering retirement.

The Spanish tennis star spent a year struggling with an ongoing back injury and doctors told her that she would likely need to quit tennis altogether.

But she’s mounted an incredible comeback in the second half of the season, climbing up to the cusp of the world’s top 10. And Badosa has now explained how Tsitsipas motivated her when she was at her lowest point.

Badosa was forced to cut her 2023 season short with a stress fracture in her back. But she struggled when she made a comeback this year.

During Indian Wells in March, doctors informed her it would be “very complicated” to continue her career. She resorted to using cortisone injections to try and play through the pain.

But things suddenly clicked over the summer. Badosa won the title in Washington and returned to the top 50. She then reached the Cincinnati Open semi-final and the US Open quarters.

Badosa will now end the year as the world No. 12 after sitting outside of the top 100 as recently as June. Reflecting on her comeback season, the 26-year-old has explained how Tsitsipas played a crucial role in keeping her going.

During the French Open, her boyfriend of a year made a bold statement that pushed her to continue her career. “I will never forget it,” Badosa told Alex Corretja on Movistar+.

“I wasn’t well, I wasn’t where I wanted to be. And I told him: I think I’m going to give up this year because I don’t see myself going back to this.

“And he looked at me with a face like I was crazy and said, ‘But you’re going to be in the top 10 again soon.’”

Badosa thought her partner was crazy but she now finds herself on the cusp of returning to the world’s top 10, showing he was right all along.

She added: “I looked at him and said, ‘This one has gone.’ He loves me a lot.”

Badosa and Tsitsipas, better known as ‘Tsitsidosa’, are one of several tennis power couples on the tour. And the Spaniard believes their careers allow them to understand each other better than anyone.

“When you have played tennis you perceive these things. He is a person who empathises a lot. He has been there in almost all my bad moments and has been a great support for me,” she continued.

“And we have something that is also very beautiful in a couple, which is to admire the other. We respect and admire each other a lot. Hearing those words from a great athlete like him motivates me. That your partner believes in you also helps.”

Badosa will be in action at this week’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals as Spain take on Poland in their first knock-out tie. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas is in Turin as the second alternate at the ATP Finals.