Dating another athlete comes with its struggles, and no one knows it better than NWSL star Trinity Rodman and her boyfriend, tennis pro Ben Shelton.
Rodman, 23, posted an emotional video via TikTok on Sunday, May 3, showing how she feels about having to say goodbye to Shelton, also 23, for months at a time.
“The moment alone after dropping your boyfriend off at the airport knowing ur not gonna see him for months right after you just went months without seeing him,” she wrote over the video, in which she appeared to have been crying.
“Love and hate tennis,” she added in the caption.
Shelton is currently in Italy, where he will compete in the Italian Open beginning on Wednesday, May 6.
Rodman and Shelton first sparked dating rumors in 2024 when they were spotted together in public multiple times. They confirmed fans’ suspicions via Instagram in March 2025, one month before Shelton opened up to Us Weekly about their relationship.
Shelton told Us exclusively at the time that making their relationship work “isn’t the easiest” because of their schedules.
“You gotta make sacrifices sometimes,” he said. “It’s just the life that we live. The lives that we live right now and for the foreseeable future. I think that you have to have two selfless people in a situation like this, and I think we have that.”
While Shelton is traveling the globe as the current ATP No. 6 player in the world, Rodman is a forward for the Washington Spirit, who became the highest-paid player in NWSL history last offseason when she signed a three-year contract worth more than $2 million per year.
The pair have been there to publicly support each other, with Rodman routinely in the stands watching Shelton compete while she’s not in season herself.
Rodman’s most recent show of support for Shelton came on Tuesday, April 28, when she took to Instagram to express her condolences to her boyfriend on the loss of his grandmother.
“It’s been a difficult time for me to find the words, but I lost my grandmother last month, and my family and I celebrated her life yesterday at her home in Alabama,” Shelton wrote alongside a carousel of photos of his grandma. “She was a beautiful woman who had more love in her heart than anyone I have ever met. She was a fighter until the very end. I could talk for days about the impact she’s had on me, and without her I would never be playing tennis, much less professionally.”
“I love you❤️ so much strength,” Rodman wrote in the comments section.
