It must be hard being a pro athlete. Due to all the training, the long days and nights and the inevitable taste of failure – every athlete goes through peaks and troughs! – it can be hard finding that special someone. For starters, a lot of pro athletes are selfish. It’s the nature of the profession they’re in. They need to look after number one, and that means sticking to schedules, eating certain foods, going to bed at certain times. It’s this disciplined approach that contributes to making someone a top athlete. But finding someone who can understand all of that and not resent you, that can be tricky.

A lot of athletes have done mightily well for themselves just to have struck up a romance in the first place. Finding someone who’s understanding, appreciates what being a pro athlete entails is an accomplishment in itself. But sometimes you just look at a couple and wonder how and why they got together. They just don’t fit. I’m sure everyone’s done that from time to time. You see a couple and wonder how an earth did she get with him or vice versa. All things considered, these athletes did well striking up these new romances. But they certainly came as a surprise. We weren’t expecting them.

15 Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez

Former MLB star A-Rod and singing sensation J. Lo have been dating for just over a year now. They’re certainly a star couple all right, A-listers of the highest order. A-Rod’s known for dating celebs. He’s dated some high-profile women over the years, such as Cameron Diaz. Just before J. Lo came on the scene, he was with a Silicon Valley star. But now A-Rod and J. Lo are extremely loved up. But the world just didn’t see it happening. Mainly because A-Rod is a bit of a man about town, and loves to have fun on the dating scene. He gets around quite a lot. J. Lo on the other hand is a very headstrong woman. She’s one of the most influential women in the world. J. Lo certainly isn’t about to be played with and doesn’t stand for such nonsense. People were surprised she even gave him a chance. But now perhaps she’s had an influence, and has helped change his ways for the better.

14 Danica Patrick and Aaron Rodgers

You may not know much about NASCAR. But chances are you’ve heard about Danica Patrick. She’s propelled the sport into the mainstream. NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers is also a pretty big name in his sport. But his popularity has become even more widespread since he began dating Danica. The rumor mill began to swirl in 2018 that they might be in a relationship.

The duo weren’t shy about revealing their relationship.

It came as a shock, mainly because it was so out of the blue. It also came as a shock because they first met when Danica was still married. But they didn’t begin dating until years later. Danica dated a NASCAR driver – that made more sense. Aaron on the other hand was dating Olivia Munn. They both split and hey presto Danica and Aaron got together.

13 Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez 

Cristiano Ronaldo is normally very quiet when it comes to his private affairs. He’s divulged some of what goes on in his personal life in documentaries and films and what have you. His son has spent plenty of time in the spotlight. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s girlfriends – and due to the paparazzi being intrusive and doing their thing, we know there’ve been many – keep a comparatively lower profile. We know that model Georgina Rodriguez is the latest lady in Cristiano’s life. She’s from Argentina and rumor has it that Cristiano spotted her in the VIP area of a Dolce & Gabbana store in Spain. She’s just given birth to Ronaldo’s fourth child. Firstly, the relationship came as a surprise simply because we hadn't known about it for a while. Secondly Georgina’s in her early 20s and Cristiano’s approaching his mid-30s. A woman in her early 20s taking on the responsibility of four kids – that’s a tough decision.

12 Allison Stokke and Rickie Fowler

Both of these names are sporting stars. Rickie Fowler plays golf on the PGA tour. He’s been doing pretty well of late too. Allison Stokke is arguably the more famous athlete. Even if you haven’t heard of her, in all likelihood you’ve seen her picture. She’s touted as being one of the most beautiful athletes in the world. Allison is still competing as a pole vaulter. Initially when her pics began to get picked up, she was a bit put off by it. Now it seems she’s come out of her shell and has embraced her popularity.

In addition to pole vaulting, Allison also earns her salary as a fitness model.

Many weren’t expecting this relationship, firstly because Allison is generally very private about her personal life.

She’s also deemed to be way out of his league. Of course, they may be compatible personality wise. That had to be the catch.

11 Antonio Brown and Chelsie Kyriss

Antonio Brown is an American football wide receiver. He currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His girlfriend is Chelsie Kyriss. Or is she actually his girlfriend? There’s no doubt that she was at one point. But there’s been plenty of drama in their relationship of late. There’s been talk of a love triangle. We weren’t expecting this romance because Antonio hasn't been in many well-known relationships. He's had five kids and Chelsie is currently pregnant.

But if rumors are to be believed, Antonio isn’t one to settle down, and stay committed. Pics have surfaced of him hanging out with models. This angered Chelsie to no end. Due to some of Antonio’s antics over the years, we can safely say that he may not be ready for a committed relationship.

10 Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll

This might sound ludicrous, but a lot of people were unsure as to whether Rory McIlroy would ever date again. When he was dating Caroline Wozniacki, he left her high and dry, essentially because the thought of being in a committed relationship, and being married to her, freaked him out. Caroline’s moved on and it seems as if Rory has as well. He’s currently with Erica Stoll. In fact, they got married last year. It seems as if Rory’s done a lot of growing up since his days with Caroline. He didn’t call off the wedding or anything like that. He stayed the course, and the duo couldn’t be happier together. They keep their lives private. There’s no red-carpet lifestyle like there was when he was with Caroline. That’s what Rory loves.

9 Nelson Agholor and Vivian Volpicelli 

Nelson Agholor is wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. The 24-year-old has certainly done well for himself on the dating front. NFL players tend to land some beautiful women. But many would say that Nelson’s girlfriend is way out of his league. She’s got model looks, is one of the most beautiful WAGs on the football scene.

It’s not yet clear when the duo started their relationship.

We do know that they were in college together. Due to social media posts and Instagram pics, we can safely assume it’s a matter of months, not years. Viviana is a beauty blogger, someone who’s very active on social media. She’s regularly seen supporting Nelson, rocking his jersey at games. The duo are besotted with each other.

8 Maria Sharapova and Alexander Gilkes

Maria Sharapova has had a tough few years. Her reputation’s been tarnished and it’s going to take some effort for her to build herself back up. She’s making a good go of things though. It helps if you’ve got someone by your side, someone to help you through those tough times. Maria Sharapova has that in the form of Alexander Gilkes. We weren’t expecting that relationship. Firstly, many would’ve thought that during her comeback, Maria, who’s a very headstrong woman, would want to put all her energy into building herself back up, and just focus on her tennis. Secondly, Alexander is unlike the other guys Maria’s dated in the past. He’s a rich Brit with connections to the royal family, but he’s not really a celebrity. Maria’s exes have all tended to be athletes, or at least people in the public eye. She also tends to live her life in the limelight. This time around Maria’s made an effort to keep things on the down low.

7 Rob Gronkowski and Camille Kostek

Rob Grontowski currently plays for the New England Patriots, but he's alluded to possibly retiring in the near future. He’s known for being the life of the party, and being an extremely cool dude who just relaxes everyone and loves to have fun. His teammates have often praised his attitude to football and to life in general. With that type of fun-loving personality, it’s no surprise that Gronk hasn’t had any problems on the dating front. Everyone wants someone like Gronk in their lives. But even so, we were surprised to learn that Rob and SI model Camille Kostek were together. Recently, in the past few weeks, pics have surfaced of them hanging out and looking very cozy together. That came as a surprise because they’ve had an on-again off-again relationship over the years. At the moment it looks as though they’re very much on.

6 Lamar Odom and Maddy Morebucks

No one can really blame Khloe for ending things with Lamar. Everyone was rooting for the duo, and thought their relationship would be one of the few celebrity relationships that would last. But Lamar went into a downwards spiral, and his antics during that time just ended up being too much for Khloe to forgive. Khloe’s moved on and it seems as though Lamar has done so too.

It’s come as a surprise that Lamar is dating again.

That’s because for a long time, Lamar was pining after Khloe, wanted to win her back. Even nowadays he’s saying things like how he wishes he was Khloe’s daughter’s, True’s baby daddy. His girlfriend Maddy Morebucks must be delighted when Lamar comes out with things like that.

5 Larry English and Nicole Williams

Former American football defensive end, Larry English seems to be enjoying his time away from the football field. Anyone would do if married to Nicole Williams. She’s regarded to be one of the most beautiful WAGs around. We also know that she’s got something of a fiery personality. It’s something that’s made her a celebrity in her own right. She’s a TV personality, having appeared on the reality documentary, WAGS LA. We weren’t expecting them to still be together. That’s what tends to happen on reality TV shows, lots of break ups, make ups, plenty of drama. Larry proposed to Nicole on the show, and the duo cemented their relationship and got hitched in a star-studded event last year. They were gushing about each other and seem besotted about each other to this day.

4 Tiger Woods and Erica Herman

Perhaps Tiger Woods’ change in fortune has been due to the new woman in his life. We always knew that Tiger was going to date again. But some might not have anticipated that he would get a new girlfriend so soon after getting out of that dark period. Tiger was in a seriously dark place. It was even thought he may never play golf again. That was due to his injuries, and his antics – involving women and lots of them – off the course. He got help, went to rehab, but remained on the dating scene, dating the likes of Lindsey Vonn. Erica Herman is less of a high-profile name. But at the moment, she’s the only lady in Tiger’s life. She managed his pop-up restaurant. That’s how they met.

3 Caroline Wozniacki and David Lee

We always knew that a woman like Caroline wasn’t going to remain off the dating scene for long. Sure, she took some time to get over that breakup with Rory McIlroy. But she’s now back on the horse so to speak. One of the reasons why they broke up is because Rory couldn’t stand that jet setting red carpet lifestyle. Caroline though laps it up. Former NBA pro David Lee is used to that lifestyle. Even so, we anticipated Caroline would’ve gotten with someone a bit more high profile.

They got engaged at the end of last year.

David had just retired from pro basketball. Perhaps that’s why they’ve been able to work it out. David now has a lot of free time on his hands, can travel with Caroline as she goes about trying to conquer the tennis world.

2 Kelvin Hayden and Taraji P. Henson

Kelvin Hayden is a former NFL cornerback. He played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears. Kelvin last stepped foot on the football field in 2014. But he’s been keeping busy off the field. Kelvin has been dating actress Taraji P. Henson. Okay, so this might not be a new relationship. But it is new to the world – we did only find out that they’d been dating pretty recently. Taraji revealed that she was in a relationship with Kelvin at the end of last year. She also claimed they’d been seeing each other for a couple of years. We weren’t expecting the relationships, at least not for it to come to light, because Taraji’s been pretty quiet about her dating life over the years. Her main focus has always been her son. She has a tough criterion when it comes to men. Kelvin obviously ticked all of the boxes.

1 Eugenie Bouchard and John Goehrke 

Eugenie Bouchard is undoubtedly one of the most beloved players in tennis. She’s beautiful, is a decent player, but has a fun loving, vibrant, down-to-earth personality. Those are qualities that endear her to many people. This just shows how fun, how chilled out Genie is. She graciously accepted to go on a date with a fan, someone who was a random stranger to her at the time. This guy’s name is John Gohrke. They were watching Super Bowl LI and John bet Genie on Twitter that the Patriots would come back from 28-3, saying if that was the case, they’d go on a date. His team won and Genie, true to her word, went on a date with John. Unexpectedly the courting has continued, as they've been seen at NBA games, and even attended Super Bowl LII together. They're not officially an item, but it sure doesn't seem like it was just a date and dash.