Both the Ts in Stefanos Tsitsipas’ surname are silent. Unlike him, last evening.
The Greek roared into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with a dominating win over defending champion Roger Federer, last evening. He is 20!
In the after-match interview, Tsitsipas said that he is the ‘happiest man on Earth right now’ and we don’t doubt that one bit.
He has looked up to Federer since the time he was 6 years old and grew up watching the tennis legend play.
He even changed his shots according to Federer’s style of play. Confused between one-handed and two-handed backhand, he went with the former because of his idol’s expertise in that shot.
To be competing against him was a big honour in itself, let alone defeating him at the tournament he won last year.
No wonder it took some moments for that feeling to sink in.
Everything pales when you have Roger Federer as your opponent but Tsitsipas has some big records to his name.
Last year, he became the first Greek player to win an ATP title when he claimed the Stockholm Open trophy.
Ranked number 1 as a juniour, he became the third Greek male player in the Open Era to win a junior Grand Slam title after he won the Wimbledon boys’ doubles event in 2016.
However, it looks like this is going to be the biggest tournament of his life. He is entering quarterfinal with the high of defeating the greatest tennis player to have held the racquet and that should provide all the necessary motivation.
After the match last evening, Tsitsipas revealed that he watched YouTube videos to analyse Federer’s game better.
Sometimes, the solution is simpler than we think and this one has cracked that.