Stefanos Tsitsipas gives one word reason for playing mixed doubles with girlfriend Paula Badosa… as the tennis power couple begin their French Open campaign

Stefanos Tsitsipas has explained his reason for teaming up with his girlfriend Paula Badosa in the mixed doubles at the French Open.

The Greek star rekindled his relationship with Badosa last month, despite the tennis couple announcing their divorce a few weeks earlier.

Tsitsipas, the men’s world number 9, was questioned about the decision after his straight-set victory over China’s Zhang Zhizhen in the third round.

His participation in the event with Badosa comes amid a busy schedule, with Tsitsipas also competing in the men’s doubles with his brother Petros.

“What is the reason you play all competitions here,” Tsitsipas was asked in his on-court interview.

Tsitsipas revealed his reason for joining girlfriend Paula Badosa in the mixed doubles event

The 25-year-old replied that the reason was ‘love’.

“Well, it all comes from love,” Tsitsipas said. “Yes, if you think about it, on both sides.

‘It all has to do with love and the combination of love and tennis is quite special.’

The official Roland Garros account shared the video with the caption “Love + Tennis. A match made in Paris’.

Badosa, the Spanish star, commented on the post with heart eyes and a love heart emoji.

It will be the first time that Tsitsipas and Badosa have teamed up at a major tournament, previously only in practice formats.

The pair will start their campaign with a match against Ena Shibahara and Nathaniel Lammons.

It promises to be a busy day for the duo, with Badosa facing her best friend and second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s singles, while Tsitsipas will be in action with his brother in the men’s doubles.

Tsitsipas shared the clip from the French Open with the caption ‘From Paris with Love’

Badosa responded to her friend’s post with love heart eyes and a heart emoji

The couple, known as ‘Tsitsidosa’, announced their separation in May before rekindling their romance

The couple had a joint Instagram account with more than 87,000 followers, which was closed after their split on May 5

Badosa, who has been struggling with a chronic back injury, joked at a press conference earlier in the tournament that Tsitsipas would do most of the work on the field.

‘On the rest day I trained and I thought I could improve my tennis with this. My team thought it was a good idea to play and in this case it was obviously mixed because of the relationship we have,” Badosa said.

‘My partner is going to do a lot of work and help me with it. I think it helps me to improve, and even more so from the competitive part. It will work for me so I don’t have to run much. It’s good to practice.’

Tsitsipas and Badosa also walked hand in hand at the French Open earlier this week.

Tsitsipas had previously claimed it was a no-brainer to play the mixed doubles with Badosa at the French Open.

‘Paris has a special place for me and Paula, he had our first date there last year just before Roland-Garros. ‘

“Our anniversary takes place here, so for us it was a no-brainer to play our first mixed doubles match at Roland-Garros.”

Tsitsipas confirmed that the couple, known as ‘Tsitsidosa’, rekindled their romance last month amid a swirling rumor mill about their reunion.

Tsitsipas had previously claimed that the decision to compete in the mixed doubles was a no-brainer

The two set pulses racing when they were spotted driving hand in hand in an expensive car in Monaco.

That was the second time they enjoyed each other’s company since Badosa released a statement announcing their separation on May 5.

Tsitsipas, the 2021 men’s singles runner-up, has impressed at Roland Garros so far after dropping just one set in three matches heading into the fourth round.

The Monte-Carlo Masters champion will continue his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam singles title on Sunday when he takes on Italian Matteo Arnaldi.