Stefanos Tsitsipas, the number 5 in the ATP ranking is the strongest Greek tennis player
Tsitsipas is the first Greek to have won an ATP title in the Open Era. His best game? «The one against Rafa Nadal».
Text by ALESSANDRO VIAPIANA
Photography PIERRE-ANGE CARLOTTI
Styling JENNIFER EYMERE
Stefanos Tsitsipas, born in 1998, is undoubtedly the strongest Greek tennis player ever. He inherited the passion for this sport from his parents, Julia Salnikova and Apostolos, both tennis players , who raised him on bread and clay in the Athenian neighborhood of Vouliagmeni. Now, like many of his colleagues, he lives in Monte Carlo. While posing for the photo shoot we ask him what he reads. «I could do without everything, but I would always carry Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" with me, which I read and reread» . Since 2018 Tsitsipas has managed a YouTube channel with 180,000 subscribers, through which he recounts his travels around the world, from the Azores to Iceland via the South of France . When we met him he was about to take the field at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters. And even though he failed to win the tournament for the third consecutive year, Tsitsipas remains fifth in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world rankings. Trained by his father - "I owe everything I know about tennis to him" - he made his debut in the Juniores category in 2013. In May 2015 he lifted his first professional trophy at the Futures Greece F6 tournament, winning two more Futures doubles tournaments later in the season . In May 2016 he won his most important title in the Juniores category by winning the Bonfiglio Trophy in Milan, success with which he reached the top of the world ranking. The first victory as an adult came in 2018 at the Stockholm Open, where on the hard courts of the Regio Tennis Club he beat the Danish Ernests Gulbis 6 - 4, 6 - 4, becoming the first Greek player ever to have won an ATP title in the era open.
2019 is the year of consecration. In February he won the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, beating Kukuskin 7 - 5, 7 - 6 in the final, while in early May he won another ATP title in Estoril, Portugal. A setback is caused by the fight against Novak Djokovic . Having reached his second final in a Masters 1000, the defeat does not allow him to win the Madrid Open, but that's where he plays his best game. After eliminating Adrian Mannarino, Fernando Verdasco and world number four Alexander Zverev in that order , he eliminated number two Rafael Nadal , against whom he had lost three fights previously. «Players like Rafa challenge you a lot mentally and are the hardest to play against. I think it's my best victory and the most difficult match to date» he said then and still repeats today. That victory brought him so much luck that a few months later he won his first ATP final in London, beating Do-minic Thiem 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 in the final at Wimbledon (after defeating Roger Federer in the semifinal by 6 - 3, 6 - 4). The Greek tennis player's game is aggressive. Without waiting for the opponent, Tsitsipas hits the ball with a mix of power and relaxation: in the final in Munich in 2022, his forehand produced 3,260 rpm, his backhand 2,760. Red clay is his ideal terrain. «I have played more than Nadal on this surface! I think it's perfect for learning to play, it teaches you to slide, to feel the game, to hold the dribble: these are the basics of tennis . It's easier to move from land to other surfaces than the other way around,” he says. Little is known about his private life. An unrequited love (for now)? The one for the Australian actress Margot Robbie , who pushed him beyond his usual reserve, so much so that he invited her to attend one of his matches...
GROOMING Elodie Aubert
PHOTO ASSISTANT Luka Radulovic
STYLIST ASSISTANT Kenzia Bengel
LOCATION Monte Carlo Country Club-Rolex Masters
