AO19 Ones to Watch: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas will never forget his 20th birthday. This was one epic tennis coming-of-age party.
Tsitsipas faced world No.1 Rafael Nadal in the Toronto final before a pumping crowd that had been captivated by the young Greek as he pulled off the biggest run of upsets in 2018.
Ranked 27th, Tsitsipas had toppled No.8 Dominic Thiem in straight sets, No.10 Novak Djokovic (in his first meeting with the former No.1), No.3 Alexander Zverev (from 6-3 5-2 and two match points down) and No.6 Kevin Anderson (again from match point down), before Nadal stopped him in straight sets.
“Playing in a Masters final is the best thing that can happen on your birthday,” said the waif-like Athenian. “I’m living the dream - literally. I had the best week of my life.”
Toronto was a high point in a year that saw Tsitsipas make all kinds of history.
The youngest player in the top 20, he rose to No.15 - the highest-ranked Greek man ever. In Stockholm in October, he became the first Greek to win an ATP title. In Toronto, he was the youngest Masters finalist since Djokovic in 2007 and the youngest to defeat four top-10 players in a single event in the history of the ATP Tour.
Tsitsipas began the year ranked No.91 and with four tour-level wins to his name. He ended the season with 46 wins, three finals appearances - in Barcelona, Toronto and Stockholm - on three different surfaces, a Grand Slam fourth round at Wimbledon, half a dozen top-10 wins, the Next Gen title after streaking through the Milan field 5-0, and the peer-voted gong for Most Improved Player.
“I had a fantastic year but it was the last thing that was in my head,” Tsitsipas said on collecting his award at the ATP Finals in London. “When I finally saw it [the trophy], I was happy that my name was there. All the hard work, all the effort that I put into my game this year, it’s part of this trophy. So yeah, it feels great.”
It's not just his achievements that are exciting fans - it's also his artistry. A sweeping single-handed backhand is his signature shot, and he likes to use his big and improving serve to venture forward. His is a soulful style on and off the court.
The eldest of four children, Tsitsipas has a creative outlet in his entertaining travel vlog, which he says takes the edge off painful defeats and helps him appreciate “all those beautiful places” on his tennis journey. He’s already planning drone footage of his upcoming first trip to Perth for the Hopman Cup. “This place must be stunning.”
Greece, with its epic landscapes, islands and beaches, is not exactly renowned for producing top tennis players. Although proudly Hellenic - “I bleed blue; Greece is who I am” - Tsitsipas is quick to credit his demanding Russian mother Yulia Salnikova, a former top junior, for his professionalism.
“My mother actually gave me a lot of discipline in my game,” he says. “That’s what I believed helped me a lot: discipline. Which, in Greek culture, is not that common, I would say.”
While his father, Apostolos, was his coach and quit his job to support his son’s tennis, Tsitsipas says his mother helped him deal with distressing defeats as a junior, when “losing felt like the end of the world.” Today he says of his greatest strength: “It takes a lot of mental toughness and mental stability to be able to beat [top] players and perform at my best.
“Staying calm and positive is the most important thing for me.”
Tsitsipas is “pretty good friends” with Greek-Australians Thanasi Kokkinakis and Mark Philippoussis - “He had some good tips to give me last year.”
He has never met Pete Sampras, the greatest Greek name in the game, but Tsitsipas shares a birthday - August 12th - with the legendary Greek-American. A small omen, perhaps, that we have another history-maker to watch. And Tsitsipas can expect a rockstar reception in multicultural Melbourne, one of the biggest Greek cities outside Greece.
Last January Tsitsipas and fellow young gun Denis Shapovalov enthralled fans in a first-round shoot-out between rising shotmakers. Tsitsipas didn’t win a set but has since overtaken the Canadian and returns to Melbourne Park with a seeding and plenty of expectation of building on his breakout 2018 season.
“Pressure about leading Greece? Never,” he declared in a first-person essay.
“It’s very motivating to be the one who can create history in Greece and have kids look up to me. I can inspire them and be the leader of tennis in Greece.”