Teenage travails toughened up Greece’s golden boy
Stefanos Tsitsipas tells Simon Briggs in Miami his rise to elite was achieved the hard way
The man tipped to be the next king of tennis – 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas – makes the game look easier than anyone except his idol Roger Federer. There is an insouciance about his strokeplay, and indeed his manner, that suggests he was destined to be the golden boy from birth.
Such impressions are deceiving. As he prepared for today’s fourthround matches in Miami – where he is due to face fellow meteor Denis Shapovalov – Tsitsipas told The Daily Telegraph that he might never have reached the top 10 without the financial and emotional travails of his teenage years. He also compared his hand-to-mouth existence to the relatively pampered upbringing of so many young British players.
“I wouldn’t say it’s unfair,” said Tsitsipas, in relation to the contrast between the Greek and British tennis worlds. “It’s more that they have opportunities.
“It’s very comfortable [in Britain] and they can provide for players, compared to a federation like the Greek one which doesn’t have much.
“If I had been part of a federation like that, it would definitely have made my life easier,” said Tsitsipas, who might be interested to hear about the Lawn Tennis Association’s latest plan to pamper a handful of teenage hopefuls at soon-to-beopened National Academies in Loughborough and Stirling.
“But then, having passed through all of this – sorry – s--t in my life kind of changed my mindset and made me mentally stronger. I appreciate it more, knowing that I had to suffer so much to get there. If I was part of such a big federation to provide everything for me, trips and so on, it would just be too simple. Everything is there for you, everything is cooked for you.”
While Tsitsipas’s formative years might have had their hardships, he was lucky in one key sense: his genes. His grandfather represented Russia on the football field, while his mother – also a Russian citizen – was the world’s No1 junior before difficulties with visas and coaching restricted her to a highest senior ranking of No194.
Coached by his father Apostolos, who is also a tennis lifer, Tsitsipas’s fluid game is as instantly identifiable as his soulful amber eyes. When he overcame Federer at January’s Australian Open, his intelligent net-rushes and singlehanded backhand made it feel as if he was beating the old master at his own game.
As the era of the Big Four draws to a close, Tsitsipas – now ranked No10 in the world – leads a group of young players who look capable of creating their own epic dynasties. Yet we should be grateful that he even made it this far, as there were numerous moments where his path could have taken a downward or even dangerous turn. The best-known of these is the frightening incident in Heraklion in 2015, when his father dragged him out of a rip-tide that could have drowned him.
As Tsitsipas told The Telegraph last year: “The waves were covering us every two or three seconds. I felt like I was a few seconds from dying.” There was an upside, however. On the court after this, I was looser and more relaxed.”
Speaking in Miami this week, Tsitsipas described a different kind of anxiety – not the panic of feeling the water closing over your head, but the everyday pressure of funding plane tickets, court fees and racket strings.
“My parents were into tennis so they knew – my mum especially – how the whole thing works and the sacrifices you have to make. Whereas the guys I played against, their parents didn’t have a clue. “There are a lot of risks, but we also had a family member who helped us a lot economically – my mum’s twin sister Alla.
“She paid some of the bills so that I could travel during this difficult period from the age of 10 to 16.
“She was a big help and without her, I don’t think it would be possible for me to be here.” Aunt Alla’s contribution will be particularly appreciated by fans of old-fashioned hand skills, such as slices, volleys and drop-shots. Her nephew’s poise at the net recalls Wimbledon heroes of the past, and last year he was comfortably the youngest man to reach the fourth round in SW19.
This summer, Tsitsipas will also be coming to the Fever-tree Championships at Queen’s for the first time, where his penchant for dramatic diving volleys is likely to sully his outfit with patches of green. “It is very pleasing to be playing in all white,” he said, “like a higher class of your sport. I like the clean grass, as you say, organic – it’s something that comes from nature.”
Elegant simplicity: that is a major part of the Tsitsipas brand. Even if his backstory was anything but straightforward.
Tickets for the Fever-tree Championships at the Queen’s Club, June 17-23: at fevertreechampionships.com
‘I wouldn’t say it’s unfair. It’s more they have opportunities in Britain. They can provide for players’