{"id":660,"date":"2016-10-24T05:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T09:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=660"},"modified":"2016-10-24T05:17:50","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T09:17:50","slug":"stefanos-tsitsapas-promising-greek-trio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2016\/10\/24\/stefanos-tsitsapas-promising-greek-trio\/","title":{"rendered":"Stefanos Tsitsipas Leads Promising Greek Trio"},"content":{"rendered":"

You wait ages for a bus and then three come along at once. Or so the saying goes. Greek tennis fans have been waiting for\u00a0any sort of bus\u00a0for years. Finally, it looks like\u00a0they’re arriving. For a nation devoid of strength in depth on tour there is a promising trio emerging. Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/strong>, Maria Sakkari<\/strong> and Valentini Grammatikopolou<\/strong> are all\u00a0developing superbly\u00a0and could\u00a0make waves in the coming years.<\/p>\n

He may not be the highest ranked of the three (on the professional circuit)\u00a0but Stefanos Tsitsipas undoubtedly\u00a0has the most potential. The Athens<\/strong>-born 18-year-old is currently the top ranked junior in the world. Armed with a one-handed backhand and a powerful serve Tsitsipas already has one junior doubles Grand Slam title and five futures titles.<\/p>\n

Stefanos Tsitsipas Leads Promising Greek Trio<\/h2>\n

The Greek teenager reached the summit of the junior rankings because of his consistency. He\u00a0progressed to\u00a0the quarter-finals of the junior\u00a0Australian Open<\/strong> and French Open<\/strong> as well as the semi-finals of Wimbledon<\/strong> and the US Open <\/strong>during the 2016 season. It was on the green grass of south-west London<\/strong> where Tsitsipas got his first taste of Grand Slam glory. Alongside Kenneth Raisma<\/strong>, Tsitsipas won the Wimbledon junior doubles titles defeating the Canadian duo, Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/strong> and Denis Shapovalov<\/strong> 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.<\/p>\n

A further\u00a0strength Stefanos Tsitsipas can boast\u00a0is his versatility. Grass was where he picked up his Grand Slam title but six of his nine futures and challengers finals have come on clay. The other three were on hard courts so the Wimbledon title seems like something of an anomaly. Evidently his style of play is not hindered by any particular playing surface.<\/p>\n

Junior Number One Finding His Way on the Professional Circuit<\/h2>\n

Despite having played\u00a0a full season of tennis, it is during the back end of the year\u00a0that he has found form. The teenager has reached back-to-back challenger finals in Morocco<\/strong> over the last few weeks. Despite not winning either, the points earned have taken him to the\u00a0brink of ending the season just\u00a0inside the top #200. His form has not gone unnoticed either. The youngster was awarded a wildcard into qualifying for this\u00a0week’s ATP 500 tournament\u00a0in Basel<\/strong>. He may not have qualified, but he\u00a0successfully upset Rajeev Ram<\/strong> as well as running Robin Haase<\/strong> close.\u00a0This marks\u00a0his first crack at an ATP tournament, an undoubted\u00a0personal moment of achievement.<\/p>\n

Standing at six foot and four inches, Stefanos Tsitsipas is a towering figure.\u00a0His build is similar to Alexander Zverev<\/strong> and his forehand technique barely notable symmetry.\u00a0Despite his frame though, he does seem to be lacking a touch of power off his groundstrokes. His serve also lacks the potency of the big German. One area where he may have an advantage though is in his mentality. Whilst Zverev is developing a reputation for getting wound up on court and smashing rackets, Tsitsipas seems calmer. This calmness is reflected in his tie-break statistics. Zverev may have won 19 of his 33 tie-breaks this year but Tsitsipas has won 26 out of 33, a remarkable record.<\/p>\n

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