Three years ago: Stefanos Tsitsipas - who is he? He’s from Greece. Not many people from there get that far in tennis. Wonder how he’s gonna do. Probably an average player.
Now: Tsitsipas is gonna be one of the greatest players of the sport. He possesses so much talent. I cannot even fathom as to how he became such a good player so quickly.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was born in Athens, Greece in 1998. His father was a tennis coach, and his mother was a professional tennis player - so, tennis ran through his blood. His parents introduced him to tennis, and they still support him today as Tsitsipas’s father is still his coach.
Tsitsipas began his professional career in 2016, but it was not until 2018 that he had his breakthrough. At the starting of the 2018 season, Tsitsipas’s ranking was 78 in the world; now, it is 15 in the world. In a year, Tsitsipas was able to increase his ranking in the top 100 by 63 spots. That is a tremendous feat that only some select people have achieved in their lives. His breakthrough occurred at the 2018 Barcelona Open as he beat great players such as Diego Schwartzman, Dominic Thiem, and Pablo Carreño Busta to reach the finals; however, he lost in the finals to the legend, Rafael Nadal. This tournament gave this young star some hope to move on knowing that he had a chance against top 20 players.
He continued this momentum into the Rogers Cup in Toronto. He claimed huge wins in this tournament as he beat Damir Dzumhur, Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, and Kevin Anderson to reach the finals. He lost to Nadal in the finals again, but Tsitsipas had the talent of a top 10 player as he beat four top 10 players in the Rogers Cup. People started to realize that Tsitsipas was the future of tennis. But, his thirst for more trophies did not end there. He went on to win the Stockholm Open and the Next Gen ATP Finals to finish off the year.
Though it seemed as Tsitsipas’s 2018 season was undeniably perfect, there was still a downside to his season: he was not able to perform well in the four grand slams, the largest tournaments of the year. Everyone thought that Tsitsipas would follow the same path as Alexander Zverev. Zverev, a relatively new player, does tremendously well in ATP tour competitions; however, he is never able to perform well in the grand slams. But, Tsitsipas did not want to be another Zverev. He wanted a grand slam and he would not be deterred by anything or anyone.
Tsitsipas started out his 2019 season at the Sydney International Open by winning one match and losing his next match. It was an average performance. Next, he participated in the Australian Open. Tsitsipas did not really know how he was going to do going in, but he knew he would try his best.
Tsitsipas won his first match against Matteo Berrettini in four sets. That was expected by everyone as Berrettini really was not that experienced of a player. Tsitsipas won his second match against Viktor Troicki in four sets. This win was more appreciable as Troicki was a relatively nice player. Tsitsipas won his third match against Nikoloz Basilashvili in four sets. This was a great win as Tsitsipas was able to move onto the Round of 16; however, he was to play the GOAT of tennis, Roger Federer, in the Round of 16. Tsitsipas went out there and did what he was doing all tournament long. He beat Roger Federer in four sets to move onto the Quarterfinals. The tennis world went crazy due to this upset, and Tsitsipas gained tens of thousands of fans with that one win. Tsitsipas had another difficult opponent ahead of him, Roberto Bautista Agut. Tsitsipas did not care about his opponent much as he beat him in four sets. The farthest Tsitsipas had ever been in a grand slam before the 2019 Australian Open was the Round of 16 in the 2018 Wimbledon. He was now in the semifinals of the Australian Open against his lovely opponent that always stood in his way at the finals of the 2018 season, Rafael Nadal. This match was rather simple; Nadal annihilated Tsitsipas in straight sets (6-2, 6-4, 6-0). It was rather an emotional loss for Tsitsipas as he felt as if he had a chance due to his win against many great players, including a recent upset of Roger Federer. He did not understand as to why he could not play as well against Nadal. But, Tsitsipas took the good out of his experience and appreciated his first grand slam semifinal appearance.
Though Tsitsipas was not able to get past Nadal, he proved to the tennis world that he was a power to be reckoned with. His ranking went from 78 to 15 in a year, and Tsitsipas became a mature and strong player. He now has high expectations as he is expected to break the top 10 barrier and reach the “#1 in the world” position soon. Tsitsipas knows he has the ability to do so; he just needs to refine his game a little bit to be able to defeat legends such as Nadal and Djokovic.
Right now, it seems as if Djokovic and Nadal are invincible as they are destroying their opponents; however, Djokovic is at another level of tennis as he destroyed Nadal in the 2019 Australian Open in straight sets. It was not expected, but Djokovic is the leader of tennis right now.
