Stefanos Tsitsipas will become the first Greek Grand Slam champion and the number one player in the world if he wins the Australian Open final on Sunday. He can thank his father for that accomplishment. The world’s fourth-ranked athlete, who is 24 years old, experienced a near-death experience.
A teenage Tsitsipas and a friend went swimming in 2015 while competing in a third-tier event in Crete, and they nearly perished because they miscalculated the strength of the currents.
Tsitsipas’s father Apostolos, who also serves as his coach, dove in to save the two boys just as they were about to be swept away.
Tsitsipas once revealed: “We couldn’t breathe; I felt awful to be inside the water and was terrified. I didn’t know how all this was going to end. My father saw us from afar and he jumped in, started swimming towards us and pushed us towards the beach. I was just a few breaths away from dying.
If we were supposed to die and lose our lives that day, we would have to do it together. My father was a hero. That was the day I saw life from a different perspective. I remember after that how much psychologically it changed me.”
Tsitsipas at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2023
Ranked world no.4, Stefanos has an overall 10-0 match record in 2023. Stefanos is participating at the Australian Open where he defeated the world no.61 Quentin Halys 6-3 6-4 7-66, the world no.169 Rinky Hijikata 6-3 6-0 6-2, the world no.63 Tallon Griekspoor 6-2 7-65 6-3, the world no.16 Jannik Sinner 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3, the world no.71 Jiri Lehecka 6-3 7-62 6-4 and the world no.20 Karen Khachanov 7-62 6-4 6-76 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will play the world no.5 Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday at 7:30 pm on Rod Laver Arena. Their current head to head is 10-2 for Djokovic.
The Greek won 9 titles in his career: 4 on clay courts, 4 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Tsitsipas is scheduled to play next in Rotterdam (ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament). He will start to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 13th of February.
