Greek tennis fans worldwide went wild when rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas managed to beat his idol Roger Federer, then Roberto Bautista Agut, to reach the Australian open semi-finals. Just 20 years old, the son of a Greek tennis coach and a Russian mother who is a former tennis champion, Stefanos grew up in the Athens suburb of Glyfada and started playing in the local club. He now is the youngest player ranked in the top 20 by the Association of Tennis Professionals and has a career-high ranking of No. 15 in the world.
In the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Stefanos lost to another of his heroes, Rafael Nadal of Spain, to the great disappointment of the Greek community in Melbourne, who turned out in force to support him. However, Rafa played superbly on the day, while Stefanos afterwards reported he never felt right—perhaps he ‘froze’, having lost twice to him before.
I suspect the loss will only serve to sharpen his focus, and his determination to improve. His dream is, of course, to reach no 1, but also to etch his country’s name on the tennis world map. In this ambition he is staunchly supported by his father, who travels everywhere with him.
Stefanos is the eldest of four children, so things have not been easy for the family. He’s had help from his club, but none so far from the Greek federation. After his meteoric path through the junior rankings, and his early performances in Grand Slam singles events, he moved to the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in France where he now trains. Hopefully, he can acquire some sponsorship to make his task a little easier.
Below are highlights from the match with Federer— some beautiful tennis.
It’s always fascinating to watch an evolving talent, so stay tuned for further developments.
Letters from Athens 
An absolutely charming guy off the court also – at this moment in time going down to Nadal was almost inevitable! Watched it on real-time TV naturally in the middle of a hot summer we are never going to forget . . . Roger is slowly but contentedly reaching the end years of his fabulous career . . we may have a very able and decent, hardworking talent here to take his place . . .
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I saw the highlights of his match with Federer last weekend and was blown away by his performance. Such talent, composure and determination to succeed. A very exciting prospect for the future.
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Yes, hope he can keep it up!
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Nice to see new talent coming forward, but also humbling for them to lose to a master on their way up. Sounds wonderful, wish I’d seen this!
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You can watch highlights on YouTube!
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Thanks, just did that, wow, all those tie breakers, thrilling to watch indeed!
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So many talented tennis players have to move abroad to develop their skills, Andy Murray had to as well!
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Yes, and it’s hard on the family…
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Really tough as they are so young. The families of all sportspeople make such massive sacrifices to support their children.
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Glad to hear you have a Greek tennis player to follow. I don’t watch or follow any sport, but like to see someone coming up to break the domination of the same handful of top players.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Good luck too him in the years ahead
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It was an amazing game. And great to see an upcoming talent who has his head on right. And the Greek community in Melbourne, which as you know is very large, was right behind him. Even named a souvlaki after him, I hear! (Perhaps I can get back to work, now that the tennis is over!)
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You saw it live! 🌹
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Only 20 years old! Pretty good stress management skills, if you ask me, with all those tiebreakers! I’ll be watching him…
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It’s wonderful to see new talent coming out of Greece, a country that has few funds to support their sports stars.
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A young man who is going to go a long way. He is most impressive.
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