Tsitsipas Shows An Interesting Way Of Saying ‘Thank You’ In Estoril

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the top seed at this week’s Millennium Estoril Open in Portugal, has an interesting way of saying ‘thank you’.

Tsitsipas defeated home favourite Joao Domingues, who was competing in his first ATP Tour quarter-final, 7-6(3), 6-4 on Friday to reach the last four at the ATP 250 tournament. In October 2016 Domingues’ father, Paulo Domingues, gave Tsitsipas a wild card into a Futures event in Portugal when the Greek was just 18.

“I came to play a Futures event a couple of years ago. That’s the place where it all started,” Tsitsipas said before praising Domingues’ father. “He welcomed us at the airport. He brought us to the tournament hotel and then he actually introduced Joao to us for the first time and told us he’s his father. The wild card was everything. I won that tournament. I beat Joao in the semi-finals and since that time I feel like he’s improved a lot.”

Tsitsipas had won four Futures titles before this event. But his victory in Portugal helped him reach the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings for the first time.

“I actually appreciated that gesture from his dad. The wild card was lovely,” Tsitsipas said. “I managed to play pretty well after that and that first Futures title that I won in Portugal was crucial for my career.”

The World No. 10 also played Domingues at an ATP Challenger Tour event in The Netherlands in 2017. But this was their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Domingues did well in his first quarter-final at this level, serving for the first set at 5-4.

“I knew it was going to be tough to face him. He came from the qualies. He had a lot of matches, so that victory is very special for me,” Tsitsipas said. “I managed to stay calm and show my best tennis at the end of the match.”