Stefanos Tsitsipas: tennis, music and videoblogs
- World No. 5 to make his debut at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo
- His father Apostolos has been his coach and on one occasion saved his life.
Mexico City, May 13, 2023.- Renowned for both his talent as a player and his charismatic personality, Stefanos Tsitsipas will make his debut at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo as the top seed in the ATP 250 tournament. Known for his rapid rise in the rankings and for making history as the first Greek to win a tour-level title, he reached the No. 3 rung of the ATP rankings in 2021, a year in which he won two of the nine titles he boasts.
In 2015 he had an experience that marked him as a human being and as a tennis player. His father, Apostolos, who is also his coach, was the one who saved him from drowning when Stefanos was swept away by the current of the sea in the Island of Crete. He has acknowledged that after that episode he sees life from a different perspective and that it was something that changed him psychologically. After what he considers was a second chance, his leap to professional player came just a year later, in 2016.
It was his parents who introduced him to physical activity and sports from the age of three. Apostolos studied everything related to the white sport, was a chair umpire and coach, while his Moscow-born mother, Julia Apostoli, was a professional tennis player. He started with his tennis lessons at a summer resort where they both worked. With the passage of time came the move to Nice so he could train at the Academy of Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of Serena Williams and later as a junior he reached No. 1 in the world.
There is no doubt that the sacrifice of his father, Stefanos has paid for it with success. After the 2018 conquest of the NextGen ATP Finals, Apostolos confessed that he was still learning every day and hoped to be a good coach to work for his son’s dreams. Today Tsitsipas is the Greek tennis player who has come the farthest and at 25 he has made his goal clear: “I don’t want people to know me only for my tennis,” he said in an interview.
Among his passions are also producing music and recording video blogs. He also starred in the first season of the Netflix series Break Point.
On his favorite Big Three player, Stefanos, who has faced all three, went with Roger Federer.
“For me the GOAT is not about titles…Federer and then Nadal”, and trying to follow in his wake, in recent years he has continued to rise and has been confident that he will conquer a Grand Slam “it’s only a matter of time”.