Paula Badosa has once again reopened the chapter on her widely discussed relationship with Stefanos Tsitsipas, and her remarks are set to ignite fresh debate in the tennis world. The Spanish player, speaking shortly after her victory over Coco Gauff and her qualification for the quarterfinals of the Berlin Open, addressed publicly how she experienced the end of her relationship with the Greek champion. Her comments were particularly pointed, as she made no effort to hide her belief that her ex-partner’s behavior played a significant role in how difficult it was for her to move on from that period of her life. She described the environment around the breakup as toxic, and implied that the difficulties continued even after they went their separate ways.
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Badosa: The statements that set the tennis world on fire
During the press conference, the Spanish tennis star was asked to speak about how she managed her personal life and her breakup with Stefanos Tsitsipas. Her answer was remarkably candid. “You can have a great relationship with an ex if he’s a normal person and things stay normal between you. But that wasn’t the case here. I don’t need to say anything more. Every day we see the other person making things more complicated. For the past few months, I’ve finally been in a good place,” she said.
Her statement caused a stir, as it was the first time she had spoken so openly about the difficulties she claims to have faced following the end of the relationship. The former world No. 2 made no secret of the fact that the process of moving on psychologically was far more challenging compared to other breakups she had experienced in the past.
👀 TREMENDAS DECLARACIONES DE PAULA BADOSA SOBRE STEFANOS TSITSIPAS.
🗣️ “He pasado por muchas rupturas en mi vida. Las acepto y entiendo que las cosas son como son. Pero cuando hay situaciones tóxicas alrededor, todo se vuelve mucho más complicado que una ruptura normal”.
— Tiempo De Tenis (@Tiempodetenis1) June 17, 2026
References to toxicity and personal confessions
Badosa continued her remarks, speaking about what she went through as a woman during this period. “It wasn’t easy to get past all those toxic things that surrounded me. It’s something you have to go through as a woman, and now I feel strong again,” she said. Many interpreted this comment as yet another dig at Tsitsipas and his inner circle.
The Spanish tennis player appeared determined to leave the past behind, insisting that she has found balance once again in both her personal and professional life. However, the most striking moment of the press conference came just before the conversation with journalists wrapped up.
“He deserves it” – Paula Badosa directly attacks ex-boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas with scathing ‘toxic’ comments about break-up https://t.co/rAzafiJ3KW pic.twitter.com/bTLMWbtTBZ
— Sportskeeda Tennis (@SK__Tennis) June 18, 2026
“I can already see the headlines”
Well aware that her words would spark a strong reaction, Badosa chose to get ahead of the story. “I can already see tomorrow’s headlines: ‘Badosa attacks Tsitsipas.’ Well, he deserves it,” she said. That single line was enough to trigger a fresh wave of commentary surrounding the couple’s high-profile romance. The remarks come at a time when tensions between the two sides had already been running high.
Not long ago, Stefanos Tsitsipas’s mother, Julia Salnikova, had commented on the couple’s relationship, claiming that excessive media attention had caused problems for her son. The response came through Badosa’s coach, Paul Toledo, who accused the Greek side of repeatedly bringing up the player and struggling to handle the level of public attention she attracted.
It is worth recalling that the relationship between the two tennis stars began at the 2023 Italian Open and quickly grew into one of the most talked-about romances in world sport. Despite a brief reconciliation in 2024, their final split came in July 2025, immediately after Wimbledon. At that point, shared photos disappeared from the “Tsitsidosa” Instagram account and the two players stopped following each other on social media. Yet judging by Badosa’s latest comments, the behind-the-scenes atmosphere remains anything but settled.
