Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas enjoyed seeing former world number 1 Pete Sampras. On Thursday, Tsitsipas turned 23 while Sampras turned 50. “His extravagant game.
I enjoyed watching his serve and volley game, ”said Tsitsipas. “People say Roger Federer is effortless. I also feel that Pete Sampras was very effortless and just made the game so beautiful to watch. ”Tsitsipas’ father loved to watch Pete Sampras and Stefanos looked up to the former world number one.
“[Pete] was a player he loved to watch and he passed it on to me, “said Tsitsipas.” We both grew up watching him. I grew up with Pete as an example. ”
Tsitsipas says Sampras has pulled back in style
“To be honest, it was someone’s best retirement, winning a Grand Slam title and he’s just retiring,” said Tsitsipas with a smile.
“He did it in an incredible way. It doesn’t get any better than that, I think ”. Tsitsipas insists that celebrating a birthday is always a beautiful day. “Birthdays are the best because people remember you, people send you nice gifts and messages,” said Tsitsipas.
“It’s always a nice day when it’s your birthday”. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas has reached the semi-finals of the Toronto Masters. Tsitsipas fights against Reilly Opelka for a place in the Toronto final. The Greek defeated Casper Rudd in the quarter-finals, saying: “Casper is a player who has done really well lately.
He’s had an amazing clay court season, “said Tsitsipas.” He’s someone who serves very well, has a very good serve-and-first-ball pattern that works really well for him. I think he’s probably one of the best players out there to serve and get the first ball in the first three strokes he hits. It’s definitely something I need to watch out for and put more pressure on. “Photo credit: REUTERS
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