Stefanos Tsitsipas got off to a strong start to the season and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open after beating Rafael Nadal two sets behind! The Greek lost to Daniil Medvedev and failed to reach the first major final for the second tournament in a row after the semi-finals at Roland Garros last October.
The Greek played a great game against Novak Djokovic in Paris, winning just five games in the first two sets (as well as against Rafa in Melbourne) before saving a match point in the third and making a wonderful comeback to force a fifth set.
Stefanos was struggling with injuries and didn’t have much left in the tank in the last set. He lost 6-1 and sent Djokovic into the title fight. After this Melbourne Park campaign, Tsitsipas is back in action in Rotterdam and beats Egor Gerasimov 7: 6, 7: 5 in the opening round in just under two hours.
Stefanos Tsitsipas said great things about Novak Djokovic
Speaking of the legends, Stefanos called Roger Federer his childhood idol and mentioned Novak Djokovic as another incredible player of our generation.
Tsitsipas praised the Serbian, saying that Novak had been exceptional over the past decade, consistently improving his game and always finding a way to raise his level.
Novak and Roger have achieved a lot and Stefanos is confident that the young players will be able to repeat at least part of it in the future. So many great young players have hit the top 20 and are looking for a notable title.
“Federer did incredible things in tennis. Not that Djokovic didn’t do it, but for me Federer was always an idol that I grew up with. The things Djokovic has achieved in the last seven or eight years are unthinkable.
It has raised its level so much; every year it seems to get better. All I can say is a big thumbs up. I think the new generation might do something similar in the future. I don’t think anyone expected Federer to break the Sampras record 15 years ago.
It’s hard to predict what will happen. As a new generation we have a lot of players who are able to achieve great things, “said Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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