Stefanos Tsitsipas is a man on a mission. The 22-year-old is one of the top favorites to conquer the upcoming Roland Garros, and that he seems to be ready to be the next one in tennis in general.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has always admired Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for their results and their behavior and the capacity to show emotions.
The importance of emotions
During a recent interview, Stefanos Tsitsipas talked about the importance of showing emotions. He believes that some athletes are too robotic, saying he likes to see Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer not hiding their feelings.
“I like emotion; I live for emotion. I celebrate my victories, go down on my knees and share them with others around me. When I see players acting all cool about that, I don’t lie about that. It’s just too robotic,” he said.
“I love players that are natural, such as Nadal, who shows out his emotion. He really fights; he shows he’s willing to fight and puts on a great show, at the French Open in particular. And Roger might be a maestro of keeping calm, but he expresses his emotions. They have revolutionized tennis. I’d love to be the same.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas will commence his French Open campaign on Sunday against 34-year-old Jeremy Chardy, strong of a 3-2 win-loss record. Stefanos is expected to win in straight sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021
Currently ranked no.5 (career-high), Tsitsipas played his last match on the 23rd of May when he defeated world no.45 Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-3 in the final in Lyon to win his 7th
career title.Currently, during this season Tsitsipas owns a composed 33-8 match record. Stefanos clinched 2 titles in 2021 in Monte-Carlo and in Lyon. The Greek was the runner-up in Acapulco and in Barcelona.
Rafael Nadal in 2021
At the moment ranked no.3, the Spaniard played his last match on the 16th of May when he beat world no.1 Novak Djokovic 7-5 1-6 6-3 in the final in Rome to win his 88th career title.
This season the Spaniard owns a composed 18-3 win-loss record. Nadal has won 2 titles in 2021 in Barcelona and in Rome.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal faced off 9 times. Their current record is 7-2 for Nadal. The last time they competed against each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-4 6-7(6) 7-5 in the final in Barcelona (Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell) on the 25th of April 2021.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
Roger Federer in 2021
Now ranked no.8, Roger played his last match on the 18th of May when he capitulated to world no.68 Pablo Andujar 6-4 4-6 6-4 in the 2nd round in Geneva (draw).
At the moment, during this season Federer has a 1-2 win-loss record.