tennis preferences // atp players

72. Dating Rumours

Alexander Zverev:

Considering on tour that the two of you were always together, there was no doubt that dating rumours would arise for your friendship. Of course, there were some romantic feelings there between the two of you, but neither of you were brave enough to come out and admit that. Often when you would walk around tournaments together, fans would ask for photos and autographs, and in the process, would ask if the two of you were dating. You would both look between each other and the fan, stutter for words and laugh a 'no', much to the fan's dismay. It was something that happened a lot whilst the two of you travelled the world, and something you could never get sick of. You both just worried that the fans asking too much might reveal the secret that you were both keeping from each other.

Alex de Minaur:

You and Alex were such close friends that you would often be affectionate towards one another, leading everyone to believe that you were in a relationship. You would hold his hand every now and again and have a long embrace whenever the two of you greeted or said goodbye to each other. Even friends, family and your team would ask if anything was going on between the two of you, to which you would both quickly deny. You realised that you both had to start being careful about where you showed your affection as you didn't want the rumours that were circulating to get to the press and the fans. That would be too many questions and a lot of denying.

Benoit Paire:

Whenever Benoit would mention to his friends, they would often be caught of guard and be surprised when he would mention that the two of you were together. He would call you his 'friend' or talk about someone else that he was interested, and the person he was talking to would just need to take a few seconds to process what he meant. In the end, they would mention to him that they had already assumed that the two of you were together from seeing you together all the time. He would just laugh awkwardly and say that that isn't the case and that you were just friends. Of course, deep down, he wanted to be more than that with you, but it was something that he would never say out loud, not to anyone.

Borna Coric:

Your friends would always tease the two of you, asking if the two of you had started dating yet. When they would first ask you things like that, you would both get flustered and not know what to respond with. Though, the more times they asked you the more it went on, you would just glare at them, knowing full well that they know the answer. Your friends were just wishing that you would eventually say one day that you were, being as you were perfect for each other and all of your friends and family loved the two of you together. You both didn't cave for a long time though, eventually you did listen to their constant questioning and began a relationship with Borna. By that point, no one was surprised to hear that you were together, considering your friends were telling every person that they saw that you were together, even when you weren't.

Casper Ruud:

During conversations or interviews, you and Casper would often bring each other up or just talk about the other person excessively. It started to lead people to believe that the two of you were in a relationship, though you would quickly shut down the rumours when you could. Even though you were trying to keep the dating rumours to a minimum, the fact that the two of you continued to talk about each other didn't help friends, family and fans from speculating. You never realised that Casper had been talking as much about you as you were talking about him, but you were too nervous to ask if that was true. You were just hoping that you would eventually see an interview or a recording of him actually saying kind things about you, before you would believe it.