Stefanos Tsitsipas made headlines on Sunday as he stunned the 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who was also the defending champion, in the fourth round of Australian Open 2019. After going down in the first set, the 20-year old Tsitsipas dazzled the Rod Laver Arena as he overpowered six-time champion Federer 6-7(11) 7-6(3) 7-5 7-6(5) to become the first player from Greece to advance to quarter-finals of a Grand Slam.
In a match pitting the oldest and youngest players left in the men’s draw, Tsitsipas earned the biggest victory of his career as he cared little for reputation or records. He toppled the 37-year-old Swiss master to become the ‘happiest man on Earth’.
Who is Stefanos Tsitsipas?
Born in Athens on 12 August 1998, Tsitsipas is currently based in Nicosia, Cyprus. The 20-year-old played his first ATP main draw at the 2017 Rotterdam Open and made his Grand Slam debut in the summer of 2017 in French Open as a qualifier. In 2018, Tsitsipas reached his first ATP final at Barcelona Open before going down against Rafael Nadal.
Tsitsipas, who is currently ranked world no 15th, is the youngest men’s tennis player ranked in ATP top 20 and is also the 2018 Next Gen Finals champion. His rankings shot up past year after a brilliant outing at the Wimbledon.
Other than Federer, Tsitsipas has defeated big names like Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson among the top-ten players in the ATP ranking to announce his arrival.
He will now face Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the Australian Open 2019 quarter-finals. After scripting the biggest victory of his career, the 20-year-old tennis player said, “There is no way I can describe it. I am the happiest man on Earth right now. It is very important to have an aggressive mindset. Stay in the moment. Get first serves in, didn’t lose patience. Overall I showed great fighting spirit, determination and the support.”
