A rare video of Stefanos Tsitsipas' first steps in tennis has brought back one of the popular Instagram profiles with tennis news worldwide.
With his appearance not much reminiscent of the athlete today, 13-year-old Tsitsipas introduces himself to the public through an interview for a European tennis tournament for children.
Don’t expect Stefanos Tsitsipas to retreat into his shell after beginning his 2023 Turin campaign with a straight-sets loss to Jannik Sinner.
As the Greek notes, a key benefit of the tournament’s round-robin format is that it allows players to stay alive even in defeat. Case in point is 2019, when Tsitsipas dropped a round-robin match to Rafael Nadal but went on to claim the title.
“That's the beauty of Nitto ATP Finals; it's not over until it's really over,” the World No. 6 said. “You can always re-bounce and you can always come back. It's a good format. It allows for great competition and for some good comebacks that we don't really see in the sport because our tour is based on knockout rounds, a single opportunity in every tournament.”
With his chances still alive of capturing a second Nitto ATP Finals title, Tsitsipas says that he will play freely and aggressively.
“I enjoy playing in fast surfaces much more now than I did years ago,” he said. “I think my tennis suits fast surfaces way more than it did slower. My shots are big. I can hit big shots.
“I see this tournament for me also as an opportunity for me to grow my game through maybe bigger risks. Why not? It's a great tournament and I really want to do well here.”
Tsitsipas paid tribute to Sinner’s impressive serving after the Italian dropped just 10 points en route to a 6-4, 6-4 win. “He definitely has improved his serve, and he showed it today on the court,” he said.
“There wasn't much I could do. I was trying to guess sometimes. He serves really close to the lines, to the corners.
“I'm not the Elastic Girl from the superheroes to be behind these balls. I tried my best, and he played a very good quality match from his side.”
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