Stefanos Tsitsipas, the eldest of four siblings, was born to Greek father Apostolos and Russian mother Julia, both former tennis players. His family's sporting heritage runs deep, with his maternal grandfather, Sergei Salnikov, winning Olympic gold in football at Melbourne in 1956.
Stefanos Tsitsipas: from junior talent to senior champion
At nine, the Athens native was introduced to various sports and eventually decided to pursue tennis. His younger brother, Petros, often partnered with him in doubles matches. Growing up, the young tennis prodigy split his time between Athens, where his father was his coach, and Nice, where he trained at Patrick Mouratoglou's academy.
Tsitsipas's early success as a junior laid the foundation for his future achievements. He won the Grade A Trofeo Bonfiglio in 2016 and secured a notable victory at Wimbledon in doubles alongside Kenneth Raisma.
The tall Greek announced himself to the world at the ATP 500 Barcelona Open in 2018. Despite still being a teenager, he defeated four seeded players - including Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov - to reach the final where he went down to Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard would defeat him again in the final of the Masters 1000 Canadian Open with Tsitsipas knocking out defending champion Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals.
Having claimed his first tour win at the ATP 250 Stockholm Open in October 2018, Tsitsipas reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Australian Open. He won two more titles that year before beating Roger Federer on his way to clinching the season-ending ATP Finals in London.
In 2020, he was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland-Garros. The following year, Tsitispas won his first Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo before reaching his first Grand Slam final at the French Open. Djokovic was his opponent again, and the Serbian great came from two sets down to win his second title in Paris.
Stefanos Tsitsipas: "Bring an Olympic medal back to my country"
Months after his first Slam final appearance, Tsitsipas made his Olympic debut at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games. His hopes of a medal were dashed as France's Ugo Humbert beat him in the last 16.
Since that setback, Tsitsipas has made one more Slam final - at the 2023 Australian Open - where Djokovic won in straight sets to claim his 10th crown in Melbourne. Months later, he started a relationship with women's star Paula Badosa which attracted its fair share of headlines.
In 2024, he won his third Monte Carlo Masters with he and Badosa announcing an amicable split weeks later. Now he is focusing on the French Open and the Paris 2024 tournament which will also be held on the clay of Roland Garros. He told the National, "I want to bring an Olympic medal back to my country, obviously; that is a goal of mine. I want to win a Grand Slam title, which is another goal of mine."