Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed his goals to win a Grand Slam title and Olympic medal in 2024 season and expressed his desire to pair with his brother Petros at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
The World No. 10 also highlighted the importance of the role of his father and coach Apostolos in his career as he believes “a part of my identity as a player is lost” without him.
Tsitsipas endured a four-set loss against the American 9th seed Taylor Fritz in the R4 of the Australian Open – his earliest exit at the season-opening slam since 2020. It was only the second occasion, the Greek did not make at least the semis at Melbourne Park in his last 6 appearances.
The 25-year-old is a two-time major finalist and on both instances he lost to Novak Djokovic i.e., at 2021 Roland Garros and 2023 Australian Open. Tsitsipas was leading Djokovic by two sets to love in Roland Garros before the Serb made one of the best slam comebacks of his career to win in 5-sets. He was then crushed by Djokovic in 2023 Australian Open final as the Serb equaled Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam victories.
In his only appearance at the Olympic Games, Tsitsipas reached the R16 in Tokyo in 2021 where he was handed an upset defeat by Ugo Humbert in three sets. The upcoming 2024 Olympics are due to take place in Paris and Tennis event will be hosted on clay courts of Roland Garros with the red Parisian clay arguably being the ideal surface for Tsitsipas.
The Greek No. 1 is set to represent home nation in their Davis Cup World Group I Play-offs tie opposite Romania in Athens this weekend where he will be up against Marius Copil in the first singles rubber on Saturday.
While giving an interview to ERT ahead of his national duties at Davis Cup, Tsitsipas reaffirmed his pursuit for the double victory on red dirt in 2024.
“My goal this year is to win a Grand Slam and an Olympic medal. It means a lot to me. Competing alongside Petros, my brother, in the Olympic Games in Paris is one of the dreams of my life,” the 25-yearo-old divulged.
Tsitsipas also put some light on the role of his father and coach Apostolos, something which has come under the radar of critics and tennis analysts.
“My father and I have always had tennis as an element in common, it was something of ours, that we have always shared. When he is not with me, I feel that a part of my identity as a player is lost,” said Tsitsipas.
“On different occasions in the past, he was with me and I felt like he was half the player. Sometimes I don’t speak too well of him, but he’s the only person who understands me, and that’s part of the job. The good thing is that we can separate the father aspect from the facet as a coach.”
Apostolos Tsitsipas spoke about the professional bond between his two sons – Stefanos and Petros Tsitsipas – who will partner in doubles against Romania.
“The relationship between the two is increasingly stronger, especially now that they can play together. They want to achieve things they have dreamed of and I think they are on the right path,” he said.
Petros Tsitsipas also gave his thoughts on the partnership: “What makes us very strong together, as a couple, is that Stefanos is a super athlete and I, for my part, am a player who has very good vision on the court.”