Stefanos Tsitsipas has been met with backlash on social media after jokingly referring to his girlfriend, fellow tennis player Paula Badosa, as a “hippo”.
The Greek athlete, who is ranked 11th in the world, made the remark in a series of videos on his Instagram Story, taken during the couple’s trip to Monaco earlier this week after both were eliminated from Wimbledon.
In one of the clips, Tsitsipas said he was making Badosa carry her suitcase up a hill in a bid to make her earn her lunch.
“Paula is hungry as always, that’s why I started calling her hippo,” Tsitsipas said of the Spaniard.
“I want you to become fitter. That’s the nice way of saying it. This walk is about you becoming even more fitter. I’m using strategy behind it. Why am I making you walk the entire Monaco? I leave the assumptions to you.”
In another video, Badosa expressed her joy at finally reaching the restaurant and being able to eat, telling Tsitsipas: “I’m having the entire menu. I’m sweating, I’m so tired, I’m starving.”
To which he responded: “You can eat as much as you want. I’m telling you this as there is plenty of walking after.”
As Badosa ate her lunch, Tsitsipas continued to mock her, declaring Badosa’s “name means small and humble, but you are none of those.”
“One thing you are not is small. You are quite grande (big). Where is your humility? As I haven’t found it yet,” he said.
While Badosa didn’t appear to take Tsitsipas’ comments to heart, many did not find any humor in the exchange.
“Today’s series of Stefanos Tsitsipas Instastories, in which he mocks and insults his girlfriend Paula Badosa, are deeply uncomfortable to watch,” one X user wrote, alongside the footage.
Another said: “Pro tip: Your boyfriend shouldn’t call you a hippo and tell you you’ve earned the right to eat food because you can walk it off later. What a jackass.”
“That was a tough watch,” a third agreed, while someone else added: “Wow, this is pretty bad. Why is she into him?”
Others, however, accused critics of not understanding Tsitsipas’ “sarcastic humor”.
“They are world class athletes motivating each other while trying to balance how much & what they eat & the amount of exercise they are getting all while teasing each other & having fun,” one said.
“Both are whipping each other into shape & being each other’s coach. He’s keeping her honest & so is she. If you do not get Stef’s sarcastic humor, then you don’t have to date him … They are having a laugh & letting us in on it. Lighten up.”
“It’s the character from a children’s book, ‘Hungry Hungry Hippo.’ They are both teasing each other and having lovers’ banter,” another commented.
While a third wrote: “Just sounds like two people who really know and like each other teasing each other in a playful way. Y’all need to get a grip and let these people who you don’t know live their lives.”
Tsitsipas and Badosa, who went public with their relationship last year, briefly split in April before reuniting.
“Paula didn’t do anything wrong, nor did I do anything wrong,” Tsitsipas told Greek news outlet SDNA in May of their decision to break up and subsequently get back together.
“It was hard for us being apart and I was going through some hard times too. I would say that I didn’t manage it very well either, because I was feeling the pressure of the tour, of my work. It seemed like a mountain to combine these two, and I made the decision to take a break.
“After two, three weeks I realized that she is a person who has support be a lot … I felt how intense the love we have for each other is. I realized that this relationship with Paula is completely different from any other relationship I have had in the past.
“I feel that she is my person and we understand each other. That puts more value in everything I do and I want her by my side as often as possible. So yes, we’ve reconnected and we’re in a good moment.”