Stefanos Tsitsipas has reiterated that he is still ardently pursuing his goals of winning a first Grand Slam singles title and ascending to world No.1.
This represents a shift from 2023, when he told Greek outlet Kathimerini that while he still thought about those milestones, being at the top didn’t mean everything to him. “I was addicted to this target when I was younger and this deprived me of something,” he said in September.
However, when asked this year if his approach to the sport had become more relaxed, Tsitsipas indicated this was not so.
"There is no relaxed approach to anything, because my job is my life and I want to evolve and get better at it every single day,” he told ausopen.com.
“My goal of being world No.1 is still ongoing, and it's still something that I haven't fully achieved yet. Being a Grand Slam champion is something that I'm planning to do and max out on this year.
“I find it a very important thing for me, to accomplish these things, because that will probably give me a closer feel and a closer direct touch with the people that I inspire. For me, bringing kids into the game is very important. For me, bringing kids from my own country of origin is extremely important, from generation to generation.
“And with my single-handed backhand that I've been using for so many years, I want to inspire more people to pursue a single-handed backhand, to keep it in the game.”
This last point was especially notable because, for the first time in the 51-year history of computer rankings, the ATP top 10 currently features no players who use a one-handed backhand.
This became so on 19 February when Tsitsipas slipped to world No.11 – his first time outside the top 10 since 2019.
Less than 100 points behind world No.10 Alex de Minaur, Tsitsipas could reascend with a strong run at the Miami Open, where he opens against Denis Shapovalov.
Interestingly, Shapovalov – another former top-10 player with a single-handed backhand – said he was hoping to get back inside this elite bracket along with his one-handed contemporaries.
Tsitsipas feels similarly passionate about boosting the visibility of players who use this stroke.
“Lately, not many have been playing that way, and it has become a more sort of a rare thing to see among the tennis scene,” said the Greek.
“I would like to be someone that carries that legacy."