Stefanos Tsitsipas' history in the making: Can Greek tennis star become world number one?

Tsitsipas may have lost out to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final, but looks certain to contend for Slam titles as the Serb and Rafael Nadal near retirement.

7 minBy Rory Jiwani

Stefanos TSITSIPAS

Tennis

Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates his fourth-round win over Jannik Sinner at the 2023 Australian Open

(2023 Getty Images)

Having never previously had a star tennis player, Greece suddenly has two at once.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the country’s top man while Maria Sakkari flies the flag in the women’s game.

Both have reached number three in the world, but Tsitsipas looks the more likely to claim his nation’s first Grand Slam title and become the first Greek in history to top the world rankings.

A world number one as a junior, Tsitsipas has long been touted for success and contested his first ATP Tour Masters final on his 20th birthday.

For the first time in a couple of years, he seems relaxed and happy with his game and that signals dangers for his rivals.

After his Australian Open quarter-final win over Jiri Lehecka, he stated, "I'm feeling great with my tennis. I don't think I felt so good in a long time. I'm a different player, playing different. My mentality is different.

"When I'm out on the court, I don't really think of negatives, to be honest. I just go out there and play the game."

Tsitsipas already has the backing of a large Greek community in Australia, but he won more fans by making an on-court invitation to actor Margot Robbie to watch him play in Melbourne.

He said, "Australia is such a great country. I like a lot of Aussie things. One of my favourite actresses comes from Australia, Margot Robbie. I wish I can... it would be nice to see her over there (points to crowd) one day."

He did not stop there - Tsitsipas then promised that if he wins the Australian Open, he would use a portion of his AUD 2,975,000 (USD 2.11m) prize money to build a school in the tournament's home state of Victoria.

He added, "I’ve seen how difficult it is for a lot of kids around the world to go to school and get a proper education, which is important because you know not all kids grow up privileged.

"I would really like to give an opportunity to kids here in this state to build a school and provide them with free education, and anything else. And to put it into words, that is what Australia means to me.”

Tsitsipas reached his second Slam final in Melbourne, going down in straight sets to Novak Djokovic.

But the Athenian looks set to challenge for major titles for many years to come. Find out more about him below.

Stefanos Tsitsipas' impressive sporting pedigree

Tsitsipas is the eldest of four children born to two tennis players: Greek father Apostolos and Russian mother Julia who made the top 200 in the world in 1990.

Julia’s father, footballer Sergei Salnikov, played for and managed Spartak Moscow and won Olympic gold at Melbourne 1956.

Having tried a number of sports, young Stefanos decided tennis would be his path aged nine.

Younger brother Petros is also a professional with the pair often playing doubles together.

Tsitsipas splits his time between training in Athens, under his father, and in the French city of Nice at the academy of Patrick Mouratoglou who coached Serena Williams late in her career.

Australia's former two-time Grand Slam finalist Mark Philippoussis joined his entourage last year, and Tsitsipas said, "He makes for a good guy to have next to my father that can advise him, that can help him, can help me."

Tsitsipas makes step up from talented junior to senior winner

The Greek enjoyed great success as a junior, winning the Grade A Trofeo Bonfiglio in May 2016 after two consecutive final defeats at the Orange Bowl.

His biggest triumph came in doubles when he and Estonia’s Kenneth Raisma beat Canadian duo Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov in the final at Wimbledon.

Tsitsipas had already won ITF Futures events by this point, and reached a pair of ATP Challenger finals in Morocco in October 2016.

He secured his first title at that level in Genoa the following September after qualifying for the main draw at Wimbledon, and made the top 100 of the world rankings thanks in part to a stunning win over top seed and home favourite David Goffin at October’s European Open.

But 2018 was the year he really made an impact starting at April’s ATP 500 Barcelona Open.

Still a teenager, Tsitsipas defeated seventh seed Diego Schwartzman, 10th seed Albert Ramos, third seed Dominic Thiem and fifth seed Pablo Carreno Busta - all in straight sets - to become Greece’s first ATP Tour finalist since Nicky Kalogeropoulous 45 years previously.

While he was well beaten by Rafael Nadal, the youngster had given notice of his potential.

Thiem exacted revenge in the French Open, but Tsitsipas beat the Austrian again at the start of another stellar run at the ATP Masters Canadian Open.

After Thiem (seeded eight), he put out Novak Djokovic (10), Alex Zverev (3) and Kevin Anderson (6) to reach his first Masters final.

On his 20^th birthday, Nadal would again prove too strong, but Tsitsipas would go one better at the Stockholm Open where he beat Ernests Gulbis to become Greece’s first ATP Tour title victor.

He went on to win the Next Gen ATP Finals and was named Most Improved Player of the year.

(2018 Getty Images)

Tsitsipas struggles to break stranglehold of big three

After reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he went out to Nadal in straight sets, Tsitsipas won just two ATP 250 titles in 2019.

He lost out to Roger Federer in the final of the Dubai Championships, and Djokovic at the Madrid Masters.

But Tsitsipas ended the season in style, beating Thiem to take the ATP Finals in London.

The next year was a case of close but no cigar, although he did reach the semi-finals of the French Open where Djokovic prevailed 6-1 in the fifth set.

While the tall Greek had shown himself equally adept on hard courts and clay, 2021 saw him make real strides on the red dirt.

He beat Andrey Rublev to take his first Masters title in Monte Carlo in March and reached his first Slam final at the French Open.

A first major triumph looked on the cards as he took the first two sets against Djokovic, but the Serb came back to win 6-4 in the fifth.

The rest of the season was something of a disappointment with a first-round exit at Wimbledon, and third-round exits at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the US Open.

He courted controversy in his first-round win over Andy Murray in New York, taking two long bathroom breaks which incurred the wrath of the two-time Olympic champion.

Apart from the successful defence of his Monte-Carlo Masters title, 2022 saw Tsitsipas again just fail in title bids. He lost in the final of the Rome and Cincinnati Masters, to Djokovic and Borna Coric, before going down to Djokovic again in the Astana Open.

With Djokovic and Nadal approaching the end of their careers, Thiem and Daniil Medvedev have managed to win Slams but not Tsitsipas and Zverev.

And 2022 saw the arrival of teenager Carlos Alcaraz who won two Masters titles and the US Open to vault above the much-vaunted Next Gen and become number one in the world.

The young Spaniard was ruled out of the Australian Open through injury giving Tsitsipas the chance to seize top spot had he triumphed in Melbourne.

He fell just short in the end, as Djokovic claimed a 10th title, but Tsitsipas looks set to be battling for Slams - and that number one ranking - for many years to come.