Stefanos Tsitsipas’ mother has revealed that she was on Paula Badosa’s side when the two players briefly split up earlier this year. They got together in 2023 and have emerged as the sport’s biggest power couple, regularly making headlines away from the court.

It has not all been plain sailing, though, with Tsitsipas and Badosa briefly going their separate ways in May before getting back together. Tsitsipas’ mother, Julia Apostoli, has admitted that she went against her son by siding with Badosa following the split.

She also suggested that she played a major role in their eventual reconciliation, telling Greek talk show To Proino: “Stefanos is happy, that’s the most important thing. If he’s happy, I’m happy too.

“There was a difficult time when they broke up, but now they’re in love. I was on Paula’s side. We talked and that’s why they found each other again.”

Tsitsipas and Badosa have gone from strength to strength since getting their relationship back on track earlier this year. On the court, they scooped a £250,000 prize after winning a mixed doubles exhibition event in New York last month.

They have also dealt with their fair share of individual struggles, with Badosa admitting last year that she was advised to retire by doctors after a string of injury setbacks. She has since returned to fitness and reached the quarter-finals of the US Open earlier this month.

Tsitsipas, meanwhile, has been at the centre of a family row after sacking his own father as his coach over the summer. The news was confirmed the day after he slammed his dad in a brutal rant after suffering a first-round exit at the Canadian Open.

Discussing their split, his mother revealed it had been on the cards for some time but was quick to insist it had not damaged their personal relationship.

“He is a professional and although he loves his father very much, he understands that he has to find another coach,” she explained.

“Since 2020, when he lost in the US Open, we said with Apostolos that Stefanos needs to change his coach, but four years passed and Stefanos was bringing good results. I think that Apostolos and Stefanos did not have such a good relationship since then.

“They had conflicts and that’s why Stefanos made the decision to change coaches. We don’t see it as a tragedy. We are all together and we are a close family.”