Stefanos Tsitsipas was as soon as described by Novak Djokovic as having “the traits of a champion” and on Sunday he will hope to prove the Serb’s glowing reference was not a misjudgement.
The charismatic 22-year-old, one of the widely-touted ‘NextGen’ of the sport looks to land the first significant bodyblow on the old guard when he tackles the world number one for the French Open title.
“He is a hard worker, dedicated, nice guy,” stated Djokovic.
“He’s very good and smart. I like the truth that he’s greater than only a tennis participant and he’s at all times seeking to be taught from expertise and to grasp one thing new about himself.
“That’s the trait of a champion, of somebody who has nice potential to be primary on the planet and win Slams and be an amazing ambassador for the game.”
Blond-haired and standing 6ft 4ins (1.93m) tall, Tsitsipas is the sport’s picture-perfect public face and widely expected to be the natural heir to the likes of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
He is already the youngest player to have defeated all three, completing the admirable task before he was 21.
He is the first Greek man or woman to make a Slam final and already has seven career titles to his name including the prestigious ATP Finals in 2019.
However, there is still much to prove.
He has won just twice overall in seven meetings with Djokovic with the Serb claiming both meetings on clay — in a five-setter in the French Open semi-finals in 2020 and then in Rome on the eve of Roland Garros.
When Djokovic and Nadal made the final in Rome, the Serb only half-jokingly said: “The Next Gen young people? Me, Rafa (Nadal) and Roger (Federer) are reinventing the Next Gen. We are the Next Gen.”
Tsitsipas is 2-7 towards Nadal though he did come again from two units all the way down to beat the Spaniard within the Australian Open quarter-finals and was a match level away from shattering the Spaniard’s mastery of the Barcelona clay court docket.
Against Federer, he’s 2-2 having gained their most up-to-date encounter at the 2019 season-finale in London.
Off the court docket, Tsitsipas is studious, typically contemplative.
He speaks Greek, English and Russian and says he’s eager to grasp Spanish and Chinese.
But his outlook on life and sport is marked by a near-death expertise in 2016 when he nearly drowned off the coast of Crete.
He and a buddy have been at risk of being swept away by the present.
The boys have been saved by the participant’s father Apostolos who swam in and guided them again to security.
“If we have been alleged to die and lose our lives that day, we must do it collectively. He was a hero,” Tsitsipas said in a video describing the incident.
“That was the day I saw life with a different perspective. I remember after that how much psychologically it changed me.”
Read all of the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News right here
