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According to his father Apostolos, Stephen Tsitsipas decided to become a tennis player when he was 11 years old after winning a junior tournament in France.
The elder Tsitsipas recalled how his son fell in love with the sport and wanted to become a professional tennis player.
Apostolos continues to be his son’s coach and says he knows Stephens will be a special player.
“I remember we were in Normandy in northern France, and he won the Masters. He asked to participate in the junior tour of France, and won the masters of four tournaments. He was one of the top eight players and won the Masters.
I remember the night before we went back to Greece he didn’t sleep. He was very excited and came to me and asked me if he could just play tennis and [not] Do anything else in his life, because he feels really good. [on] tennis court”
His father is ready to lead the coaching staff and make sure his son has the best guidance possible.
“I believe that one day when they say such an opinion, it is exactly what is in them,” Tsitsipas said.
“So my problem was to manage to bring the best out of his dream and that was to play tennis.”
The senior Tsitsipas believes that having most of his family on tour gives Stefanos an advantage over other players who find the tour incredibly lonely.
“During the career, it’s very important. [for] Parents should be around, because this is a very hard life, traveling. After a week traveling is very difficult. At some point he starts to lose [and that is] Determining the direction of what is happening in life,” Tsitsipas said.
But if the family is nearby – as proved this week, when all the family is here, we now live in the south of France – for him [it] It was more comfortable, like home. That gives it more strength, I believe.
He admitted that his biggest worry about his son’s career was the elbow injury he suffered in 2021.
Apostolos feared he would not be the same player after rehabilitation, but he had another successful season in 2022 and made the Australian Open final to kick off his 2023 campaign.
“I really didn’t know how hard it was for him. He would tell me after Torino or Nito. [ATP] That will end [it was] I feel really sick,” Tsispas said.
“We decided to do the surgery. It was very successful and now he is pain free and I am very happy about that.
Read more: Indian Wells’ loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas raises more questions.
