Season Portrait: Stefanos Tsitipas
Over the course of eight days, ATPTour.com is serving up a season snapshot of the eight players who qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals. The series is illustrated by intimate portraits shot by British photographer Simon Owen. So far, we have looked at Diego Schwartzman, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev’s year. Today, we examine Stefanos Tsitsipas’ season.
Memorable Moment
Stefanos Tsitsipas matched his career-best Grand Slam result with a run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros. But to get there, he had to pull off a comeback unlike any other just to advance past the opening round.
The Marseille champion arrived in Paris after narrowly missing out on winning the title in Vienna. Tsitsipas struggled to get going against Spain’s Jaume Munar and found himself trailing by two sets. The Greek player was forced to dig deep, and eventually prevailed 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, recording his first victory from two-sets-to-love down.
Key Stat
One of Tsitsipas’ best weapons is his solid serve, and the Greek player proved that he’s not afraid to take big risks for big rewards. According to an Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis, Tsitsipas dominated the Deuce court against right-handers with his second serve out wide, winning 75 per cent (21/28) of points when he targetted his opponent’s forehand, instead of serving to the backhand return like conventional tennis wisdom dictates. It paid off, as Tsitsipas won 85 per cent of his service games in 2020.
Quotable
“I would like to tell you that I’m not a Next Gen player any more. I’m a proper adult… The Big Three have been there for a long time. I don’t feel like it’s going to be the same in five, six years’ time.”
The Road Ahead
Currently sitting at No. 6 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Tsitsipas will be fighting to close the 705-point gap between him and Roger Federer for a return to the Top 5. He is still looking for his first championship match appearance at a Grand Slam, having reached the semi-finals at the 2019 Australian Open and 2020 Roland Garros.
Photo: Simon Owen/Wonderhatch