For several years now, the Tour has been looking for those who should be heirs to the Big 3, namely Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, tennis players who have dominated Tour for the past 20 years. These athletes are the NextGen, talented tennis players who represent the future of world tennis.
Among these is certainly the young Greek talent Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been in the top 10 for some time, but still cannot make the final leap in quality to reach the best.
It was the Australian Open 2019 when he defeated Roger Federer in the tournament and from that moment on everyone expected a leap in quality, at the Masters 1000 and the Grand Slams, which has yet to come in full.
Nevertheless, he has already reached the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournaments, even at the last Australian Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal, but surrendered too easily to the Russian Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals. Patrick Mouratoglou, who coaches the Greek for several weeks a year, was interviewed on the microphones of the sport24.gr website and explained what Tsitsipas is missing to make the leap that could lead him to the top of world tennis.
Mouratoglous Words about Stefanos Tsitsipas
These are the words of the Tsitsipas coach: “Stefanos is on the right track. I think his level is now very high and it has to be recognized that he has already beaten the best of the tour.
He defeated Federer at the Australian Open 2019, defeating Nadal a few months ago in Melbourne, while he defeated Novak Djokovic at the Masters 1000 in Montreal in 2018 and in Shanghai in 2019. His problem is that he is not very far away and has therefore often lost in the early stages of a Grand Slam.
I’m also thinking of the last US Open against Borna Coric. You have good days and bad days during a tournament, but for a great tennis player, being able to win on a bad day is important.
He entered the square in a panic when he had to psychologically challenge complex moments. This makes things difficult even for a trainer. Lately things have improved. Can he win a Grand Slam? I would say yes but it’s hard to tell when he’s going to do it but he’s on the right track. Without a doubt, I think it’s a matter of time. “Photo credit: Peter Staples / ATP Tour
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