O Stefanos Tsitsipas is the man who learned tennis all over Greece. In his hands, in his racket fits the joy of millions of Greeks.
The young man with great achievements, the young athlete Stefanos Tsitsipas, has unquestionably achieved a lot, in such a short period of time and even in a sport that does not have the popularity of football or basketball. But for him, this is only the beginning. for a career that awaits great moments, titles and why not, the top of the world.
But because life is not just joys, distinctions and smiles, there was an event that marked him, a second chance in life, as he calls it, of those that you do not let be wasted.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was born on August 12, 1998 and grew up in the hotel complex of Asteras Vouliagmeni. His parents worked as tennis instructors and so they spent most of their time there.
His father is Apostolos Tsitsipas and his mother is the Russian, former tennis player Julia Salnikova. Sergei Salnikov's grandfather was a Russian footballer and manager.
His love for tennis was evident at a very young age and his parents stood by him from the first moment. After all, for Stefanos Tsitsipas himself, his family is first and foremost.
His father has said that Stefanos decided to become a tennis player himself, recalling his son's words when he "woke him up in the middle of the night after a tournament in France at the age of 9, telling him" Father, I have to tell you something. "I want to become a tennis player, I like the competition, I like the challenge."
So Tsitsipas started attending classes at the Tennis Club of Glyfada in Attica when he was 6 years old. The head coach was his father, who studied tennis at the University of Athens to help his children. In 2015, Tsitsipas began training at the Patrick Muratoglou Academy, dividing his time between France and Greece at the time. However, the cost of the trips was very high, there was no support from the tennis federation or other body and so his mother's sister supported him financially, something he will never forget.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is the first of four children in the family.
"I always had a very close relationship with my next brother, Petros, as we are only two years apart. He is my alter ego and the company mustache night outs. He is brave and a great talent in tennis. From a young age he was not afraid of anything. Next is 11-year-old Pavlos, the family member with the most positive energy. He is charismatic and handsome, which is why he is called "Brad Pitt". Elizabeth is the junior of the company and since our little one, we have her pampered. She loves dancing, admires us and wants to look like us. You are a close-knit family that cares about each other. I owe a lot to my father, who from the age of 12 gave up all other occupations in order to be with me constantly. "Fortunately, there is understanding from the others.… My brothers grow up having their father away," he had revealed in an earlier interview with the Tsitsipas family.
When Stefanos Tsitsipas was in danger of drowning on vacation in Crete
The Spanish newspaper El Pais published a tribute to the Greek athlete entitled "Tsitsipas, the pearl that survived in the Aegean".
The newspaper brought to the fore an unpleasant adventure that he had in 2015 during his vacation in Crete, when he almost drowned and lost his life.
"In 2015 he almost drowned on the island of Crete and it was there that he was reborn," the newspaper writes.
The Spanish newspaper presents Tsitsipas "as the tennis player who stands out at the moment" and continues the narration of the Cretan incident: "My father, who looked at us from the shore, swam with us and pulled me to a rock. There I was able to breathe normally and then slowly we went back to shore. A very bad experience that I will never forget ".
Tsitsipas, the newspaper notes, acknowledged this dramatic event, both before and after in his life. "I felt that God wanted to give me a second chance and changed the way I think."
In the context of the online show "My Story" of ATP, Stefanos Tsitsipas spoke for the first time about the dramatic experience he had a few years ago in Heraklion. Crete.
"I was playing in a Futures in Heraklion. I had a break and went to the sea with 2 friends. We did not realize that the conditions were very difficult for swimming. I went in with a friend of mine, my other friend and my father were also together. When we entered, I turned my back and we were 25 meters away from the beach. We did not even understand what happened, everything happened very quickly. The waves covered us every 2-3 seconds, we could not breathe and I felt like I was drowning. "I felt for the first time in my life that I was a few seconds away from death", Tsitsipas revealed in "My Story".
In the continuation of the story, the leading Greek tennis player told how he was saved by his father: “My father went into the sea to save us. He pulled me, tried to take me closer to the beach. We fought for 2 minutes and found a rock in the sea, on which we could climb and take a few breaths. We all managed to climb the rock and it was a moment of relief for all of us. And little by little, after a few minutes we reached the beach and realized how close we were to death ".
Stefanos added that this dramatic experience changed his way of thinking forever and made him fearless in court.
"My way of thinking and my mind has changed. I see everything differently in court and I have no fear. Somehow that day changed my mind. It helped me realize things about life. He helped me understand what tennis is. It will be a moment that I will always remember ".
Ο Stefanos Tsitsipas he has accomplished many things in a few years, and this is something that no one can ignore.
Whatever he managed, he did outside Greece. "The only way to succeed is to go abroad, where there is both the culture for tennis and the necessary specialization. It was a very good move to go abroad, although at first I had some difficulties. But I always had my family as supporters. My tennis career started in Greece, but from a young age I wanted to be professionally involved in the sport, so I had to go abroad. As I mentioned above, Greece does not have professional tennis. "So I had to go abroad," he said of his decision to pursue his dream abroad.
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