Famous Tennis Couples
Tennis romances are always fun to watch. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa have attacted a lot of attention as the latest tennis power couple. Let’s look at other famous tennis couples.
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are definitely the most famous couple in tennis. Both had magnificent careers during which they won a combined 30 Grand Slam titles. Their relationship began at the gala dinner at the end of the 1999 French Open where they both won the title. A few weeks after the dinner, they announced that they were in a relationship. Their wedding took place in October 2001 in Las Vegas where the only witnesses were their mothers. Now they have been married for more than two decades and have two kids, a son, Jaden, and a daughter, Jaz Ella. Andre and Steffi can are still quite active and can often be seen at exhibition matches.
Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec
Like Agassi and Graff, Roger Federer and Mirka Vavrinec have been married for years. We regularly watched Mirka in the stands cheering on her husband, but many forget that Mirka herself was a tennis player. The two met at the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000 where they both were representing Switzerland. She was forced to retire in 2002 due to major problems with a foot injury. While Roger won 20 Grand Slam titles, Mirka did not win a tournament during her short career and her best ranking was #76 in the world. Roger and Mirka got married at the beginning of April 2009 in Basel, the hometown of the legendary Swiss player. They have four children, two pairs of twins, Myla and Charlenne were born in 2009, while Leo and Lenny were born five years later.
Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert
Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert were tennis royalty during the 1970s and 1980s. Connors is the man with the most ATP titles in the open era, having lifted the trophy 109 times. During her career, Evert, who I have written about in multiple other articles, won 18 Grand Slam titles. These two tennis legends dated after they both won their first titles at Wimbledon in 1974. Connors was 21 and Evert only 19 at the time. Later, they announced their engagement but then broke up prior to getting married. Connors revealed in his 2013 autobiography that Evert had aborted their child.
Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina
Gael Monfils is one of my favorite players, and I did a profile of him here. He is fun to watch and continues to delight fans even though he is 37 years-old. His fell in love with the former #3 player in the world from Ukraine, Elina Svitolina. The two announced that they were in a relationship in 2019 and they got married in 2021. Elina who had problems with back pain and was emotionally shaken by the war in Ukraine, took a break from playing tennis in 2022. In October of the same year, Gael and Elina became the parents of their daughter, Sky. She returned to tennis in 2023 and is currently ranked #20 in the world. Monfils, who has also suffered from injuries, is currently ranked #70 in the world. I am rooting for both of them!
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa began dating in 2023 and have been publicly sharing their relationshp on Instagram. Badosa, who was ranked as high as #2 in the world, and Tsitsipas, who was ranked as high as #3 in the world, are a fun couple to watch. They are often seen supporting each other at matches or trainig together. Badosa is currently ranked #83 and Tsitsipas is ranked #10, so let’s hope they are able to continue to support each other to rise in the rankings.
Other current tennis couples
In addition to Monfils and Svitolina and Tsitsipas and Badosa, the best Australian player, Alex de Minaur, and the best British player, Katie Boulter, are currently in a relationship. The two have been together for several years and it seems that they are both in great shape and feel great both on and off the court.
Madison Keys, an American player who was once the #7 ranked player in the world and is currently ranked #16, is engaged to her fellow American and colleague, Bjorn Fratangelo. Fratangelo, who reached a ranking of #99 in 2016, is currently coaching Keys.
Other tennis couples who broke up
Tennis legends, Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters, began dating at the 2000 Australian Open and for the next few years they seemed like a happy couple who were planning a 2005 wedding. Their wedding never happened, as they broke up in 2004 when Hewit began dating actress Rebecca Cartwright.
Ana Ivanovic, a former #1 in the world from Serbia, briefly dated Fernando Verdasco, who was ranked as high as #7 in the world, before breaking up.
Maria Sharapova dated Grigor Dimitrov for several years. Czech players Tomas Berdych and Lucie Safarova dated.
Radek Stepanek, the Czech player who was ranked as high as #8 in the world and who was previously engaged to former #1 in the world Martina Hingis, married Czech player Nicole Vaidisova in 2010. Vaidisova reached a career high of #7 in the world. After they divorced, Stepanek briefly dated another Czech player, Petra Kvitova, who was #2 in the world and won Wimbledon twice, in 2011 and 2014. Amazingly, years later, in 2018, Stepanek and Vaidisova married for the second time. They have a daughter names Stella.
Flavia Penneta, the Italian player who was ranked as high as #6 in the world and won the 2015 U.S. Open, previously dated the famous Spanish player Carlos Moya. Moya was ranked #1 in the world and has also been coaching Rafael Nadal since 2016. Penneta married fellow Italian, Fabio Fognini, in 2016. Fognini is currently ranked #103 and was ranked as high as #9 in the world. They have three children, a son and two daughters.
