Ben Shelton has said finding time with his girlfriend, Trinity Rodman, is proving difficult as both athletes pursue demanding sporting careers.
The American tennis player, who was runner-up in the US Open men’s final over the summer, said that even their days off were often consumed by exhaustion.
“It is really difficult,” Shelton said. “I think what a lot of people don’t see is when we actually do have time or a couple of days off, we’re so exhausted that it’s tough to do anything. It is tough to make time.”
Rodman is a forward for Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League and has also been managing a busy schedule of her own.
Shelton admitted that after leaving tournaments he could feel like “a bit of a zombie” and was not always the “most fun person to be around”.
He said the pair were making sacrifices while chasing their sporting ambitions, adding: “I’d say both of us are chasing things for our sport. We’re not where we want to be yet, we’re not in our primes. So this is kind of crunch time.”
Shelton described the period ahead as “the hardest, most grueling time in our relationship”, warning that it would not “be easy”.
However, he said having someone who understood the demands of elite sport had been valuable.
“But being able to have someone to lean on who’s such an elite athlete and doing things at a really high level as well, it helps in so many ways,” he said.
Rodman supported Shelton during his US Open campaign in New York, despite the tournament coinciding with her own commitments. Shelton said she had “grinded a ridiculous amount” to be there for him and had probably flown back and forth “six or seven times during the tournament”, possibly more.
