Greece tennis ace, Stefanos Tsitsipas is steadily rising to the elite tennis circuit. Since he was introduced to the sports by his tennis coach parents, the wunderkind has set many records in the male category and the tennis world as a whole among which are rising to world No. 1 junior in 2016 as well as being the youngest player ranked in the top 20 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) with a career-high ranking of world No. 15.
While reaching the world No. 1 resides among his dreams, he also hopes to entrench his country’s name on the world tennis map. His first career final at the Barcelona Open helped him garner national attention in his native Greece where he hopes to promote the sport. With steadily growing exploits and titles, below are things you should know about him.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Bio, Age
He was born on August 12, 1998, in a suburb of Athens, Greece to a Greek father and a Russian mother both of whom worked as coaches at a summer resort in Greece. With tennis coaches as parents, it wasn’t surprising that he was inducted into training; Tsitsipas was introduced to the sport at the tender age of 3 when he started hitting the ball with his father. Tennis was, however, not the only sporting activity he was enamored of, he was also into swimming and played football but ultimately chose tennis over the others. The competition and the challenge associated with the sport got him hooked from the get-go. He decided to forge a career therein and the sport, in turn, became his ticket to fame.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is fluent in three languages including English, Greek, and Russian as he studied at an English-language school as a child. He began his training at the age of six with his father serving as his primary coach and tennis icon, Roger Federer being his idol. Tsitsipas began his junior career in 2013 quickly rising through the ranks.
He entered and reached the final of the Orange Bowl tournament in 2014 although with a spot outside the top 100 in the junior rankings. The following year, Tsitsipas got his first chance to play in the junior Grand Slam tournaments recording his best result in the events at the Australian Open where he reached the quarterfinal. He also had another runner-up finish at the Orange Bowl that same year rising to world No. 14 ranked junior at the end of the season.
Following the near successes he recorded in the 2015 season, he moved to the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy in France where he began training. With the movement came a turning point in his career. In 2016, he won his first significant trophy in the sports since he started playing; his first Grade A title at Trofeo Bonfiglio, Italy as well as the European Junior Championships. However, his biggest win of the season was the Wimbledon boys’ doubles event win in London, partnering with the Estonian player Kenneth Raisma which became his only junior Grand Slam event at Wimbledon.
With the win, Stefanos Tsitsipas became the third Greek player, and the first Greek male in the Open Era to win a junior Grand Slam title. Riding on the wings of the success, he also had his two best finishes (semifinals of both Wimbledon and the US Open) in the Grand Slam singles events and landed on the 1st spot of the Junior world ranking.
He continued with his massive successes, winning his first ATP match in late 2017 and his first career Grand Slam match at the 2018 French Open against Carlos Taberner before losing to the eventual runner-up, Dominic Thiem. He reached two ATP finals in 2018, including his first career Masters final at the Canadian Open where he became the youngest player to defeat four top-ten opponents in a single event including No. 8 Dominic Thiem, No. 10 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, and No. 6 Kevin Anderson successively, though he eventually lost the final to Rafael Nadal. He also ascended the ATP rankings to world No. 15.
Family Life of the Greek Tennis Player
Stefanos comes from a simple family that happens to love the game of tennis very much. As mentioned earlier, he was introduced to sports by his parents who stood at the forefront. His mother, Julia Apostoli (née Salnikova) was a professional on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour and like her son, was a world No. 1 junior. His father, Apostolos Tsitsipas is a trained tennis coach and to help train his children, he studied tennis coaching at the University of Athens. As such, he serves as his son’s primary coach and follows him to his matches around the world.
He grew up in Astir Palace resort hotel where his parents worked as tennis instructors at the time of his birth. The tennis elite is the first of four children; he has two brothers Petros and Pavlos, and a sister Elisavet all of whom also play tennis. The sport runs through the whole brood of the Tsitsipas family. Besides his immediate family, his mother’s side also produced professional athletes. His aunt (his mom’s twin sister) was also a tennis player and his grandfather, Sergei Salnikof was an Olympic men’s soccer gold medalist in Melbourne 1956 and a manager.
The young chap gives credit for his soaring career to the disparity in his background; while he alludes to a Russian heritage for his discipline and ethos, he gives his Greek side credit for his optimism and positive spirit.
With an early introduction to sports, Stefanos Tsitsipas decided he would be a pro tennis player when he was only nine. His hobbies include watching tennis matches, playing video games, swimming, going to movies, and hanging out with friends. He also enjoys travel vlogging which he says eases off his tour stress.
Stefanos Tsitsipas Girlfriend
It’s either the 6′ 4″ tennis player is so focused on his career that he is not set to commit to a relationship or he has a girlfriend who he is yet to let his fans in on. Either way, we wish him the best and would be here to bring you details if he ever introduces his girlfriend.
