Stefanos Tsitsipas is in the final of the ATP NextGen Final in Milan. There the Greek meets the Australian Alex de Minaur on Saturday evening. If it’s coach icon Patrick Mouratoglou, then there are no limits for Tsitsipas anyway.
He is one of the season’s promoted: Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20 years old, father Greek, mother Russian, grandpa football Olymiasieger (1956). Type audience favorite with his wild curls and the headband brand Björn Borg.
The year began with the 1.93 m slaughter from Athens as world rankings-91. Almost eleven months later Tsitsipas, nicknamed “Stef”, is number 15 in the ATP ranking.
“I don’t see any limits for him,” Patrick Mouratoglou, mentor of Tsitsipas, told ESPN, “Stefanos can still improve so many things – and he’s already in 15th place. That’s a good sign.”
Tsitsipas has been training at the Mouratoglou Academy since 2015 and is part of the so-called “Team M”, a small group of professionals who have special expectations in world tennis and therefore enjoy privileges.
Among the chosen ones are the 14-year-old American Cori Gauff, who won this year’s junior competition at the French Open, and Chun Hsin Tseng (Taiwan), the number one in the junior world ranking, as well as the Australian Alexei Popyrin (ATP No. 148).
The Frenchman Mouratoglou, himself of Greek descent and a successful coach of Serena Williams since 2012, makes no secret of the fact that winning a major title must be the goal for Tsitsipas. “Our mission is to lead every player to his maximum. If they don’t win a Grand Slam tournament, I don’t think we’ve done our job completely right. That’s not satisfactory,” said the 48-year-old.
On Tsitsipas, whom Mouratoglou first observed at the Orange Bowl 2014 in Florida, he immediately noticed his offensive spirit. One could feel that the youngster with the one-handed backhand was looking for a quick decision in every rally and was not afraid of impending setbacks.
“I’ve also seen this great competitor on the court from the beginning, which is the most important quality in tennis,” Mouratoglou stressed: “If you’re a good athlete, have the right mentality and work hard, it can go a long way.
Tsitsipas, who was once saved from drowning by his father and coach Apostolos at the edge of a Future tournament in Heraklion, also believes in the great litter. “Things look rosy. This is just the beginning of everything,” said the 2018 Stockholm champ about his prospects.
Top seeded Tsitsipas defeated Russian Andrey Rublev 4:3 (3), 3:4 (5), 4:0, 2:4 and 4:3 (2) on Friday evening in the preliminary round of the NextGen Final in Milan. In the fourth mini-set, the otherwise so prudent Greek showed emotions and destroyed the headset in anger, over which he can receive instructions from his trainer. Tsitsipas injured his hand. After a short Medical Time Out he was able to continue.