"Make sure to return back with Olympia, as her coach" - Stefanos Tsitsipas to Serena Williams
Stefanos Tsitsipas recently sent a heartfelt farewell video message to Serena Williams in which he cheekily requested the American to return on tour as daughter Olympia's coach one day.
Williams will bring an end to her illustrious career after the 2022 US Open, where she is playing singles and also doubles with sister Venus. The 23-time Major champion announced her retirement in an article for Vogue magazine a couple of weeks ago.
Meanwhile, speaking to Eurosport Greece, Tsitsipas congratulated the American on her career, recalling how the latter once aced him during a match (2019 Hopman Cup).
"Hey Serena, I'd like to congratulate you on an amazing career," Stefanos Tsitsipas said. "You're probably the only female player that has aced me in a match so congratulations for that too - wasn't very entertaining for me!"
The Greek added that he has "lots of respect" for Williams' contribution to the sport. Tsitsipas believes the 40-year-old is a "great mother" to Olympia, mentioning that he would like to see the youngster coached by the great champion someday.
"But I have lots of respect for (what) you've done for the sport. I'm more than inspired to have shared a fair amount of time with you on the tour. Good luck on the next chapter, and make sure to return back with Olympia as her coach one day," Tsitsipas added. "And obviously the most important thing - you're a great mother, I've been seeing that over the last couple of years. Stay happy and enjoy your moments off tour."
Stef's lovely message for Serena 🥺❤️ https://t.co/D7nLliuWWt
"Olympia's just my little buddy, we do everything together, we go on dates" - Serena Williams
Serena Williams laid bare the closeness of her relationship with daughter Olympia in a recent media interaction for Today. Explaining how having a child can drastically alter one's daily life, Williams stressed that one must avoid such changes to protect their identity.
"If you have a baby, they have to fit in your life, you shouldn’t change your life. And so that’s hard," Serena Williams said. "It’s super hard because there’s so many things that change but even though those changes happen, they still have to fit in your life. You don’t want to just lose who you are."
Leave a legacy. @weareangelcity https://t.co/eJWPRuyIyk
The 40-year-old believes Olympia fits like a glove in her life and highlighted how the two love doing fun things together -- as long as tennis is not involved.
"So for me, that’s kind of how it is like, she fits in my life," Serena Williams continued. "We have a lot of fun. She’s just my little buddy. You know we do everything together, we go on dates. And it’s so cool because she likes everything I do except for tennis.."