Paula Badosa returns to practice as 'Tsitsidosa' descends on Wimbledon

FLASHBACK: Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas' relationship has been social media fodder since it began last month.

Guess who's back, back again: Paula Badosa not only returned to practice this week, but she and newly-minted boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas are already preparing for Wimbledon.

The former world No. 2 missed Roland Garros hasn't played since the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in mid-May due to a back injury, and was forced to pull out of Roland Garros in the process. But a quick check social media this week shows that the Spaniard looks primed to make her 2023 Grand Slam debut in two weeks' time. (She also missed the Australian Open with an abductor injury.)

"Guess who's back..." Badosa wrote on Twitter on Wednesday with a series of emojis conveying her excitement, accompanying a video of her hitting on hard courts.

By Friday, Badosa was at Wimbledon, practicing on grass with Tsitsipas, and 'Tsitsidosa' once again lit up social media with their reunion after the grass-court Grand Slam's official account posted a set of photos of the couple on the practice courts.

"Getting to do what you love with who you love is priceless," Badosa wrote on Twitter, retweeting the photos with the hashtag #team.

At the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany this week, where he was seeded No. 2 but upset by Nicolas Jarry in the second round of the grass-court Wimbledon tune-up, Tsitsipas expounded on the pair's fledgling romance.

“I haven’t really felt that type of connection with anyone before," he told Eurosport. "I don’t mean to sound cringe or anything because that’s the reality and that’s what I am faced with. I am extremely blessed and happy that this came at this phase of my life.

“I get to do what I love and I get to do it with someone who completely understands me and gets it. I have been very interested in her mind more than anything else. Of course there is attraction but it’s also sometimes just a soul interaction and getting to fall in love with her mind. It’s very rare that these things happen.

“It's like we share the same identity: same lifestyle, same desires, same passions, same ambitions. It's the same. It's wonderful to be a part of it and to experience it every day.”

Seeded No. 4 at Wimbledon 12 months ago, Badosa reached the fourth round for her best-ever result. But without any grass-court prep, or matches of any kind over the last five weeks, will the power of love be enough for a fairytale return to the tour? Only time will tell.