Stefanos Tsitsipas: ‘I would head back to my room after…’

Defined the first round of 16 crossing at the 2023 Australian Open. Two of the great talents of the NextGen will measure forces after having passed the third round in the first Grand Slam of the season. The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, third seeded, continues without leaving a single set on his way by beating the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 7-6 and 6-3. Tsitsipas has been flying at this start of the campaign. Far from complicating, with the exception of the second episode, he dominated the match at will. The Hellenic hit seven aces, an 81% effectiveness with the first service and broke his serve in three of the seven chances he generated. First it was Quentin Halys, then Rinky Hijikata, and now Griekspoor. None could match one of the main favorites for the title. Now in the next round he will have a synod that is expected to be much more complicated: Jannik Sinner. The Italian had to come from behind to avoid the crash by beating, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-0, the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. Sinner went from losing two sets and being on the verge of elimination, to only giving up three ‘games’ in the rest of the contest. In the end, he ended up imposing his best tennis against a version of Fucsovics that at times looked indomitable, although it was impossible for him to keep up. What a great game is coming in Australia. Tsitsipas and Sinner have faced each other five times throughout their career, with four wins for the Greek and one for the Italian. Which of these two figures do you see advancing to the quarters at the 2023 Australian Open?

Tsitsipas has acknowledged the importance of fan support

Stefanos Tsitsipas has acknowledged the importance of fan support. “Typically, I would head back to my room after a few hours recovery. I would spend 30 minutes of my time dedicating it to the fans, to the people who support me. I think this is something that players neglect. My fans are important to me, the people that follow me, the people who support me all my matches. To ones who don’t have the opportunity to come to my matches in remote places or places that don’t have much access to tennis, I make sure to send them postcards and sometimes letters. This is an important part of my life as well. I enjoyed fighting my way through today. It wasn’t easy at times. I had the crowd with me, as always. It’s always a great sensation when I’m out here.”