"I hope my kids, one day, get to play with you and carry over my legacy" - Stefanos Tsitsipas expresses his love for tennis
Stefanos Tsitsipas recently expressed his love for tennis, while also saying he hoped his kids would one day become tennis players themselves and carry his legacy forward.
Speaking to ATPTour.com, the World No. 5 proclaimed that he has been very committed and devoted to the sport and that he is grateful every day for having chosen tennis. The Greek also wished that tennis would have just as much love for him in the coming days.
While Tsitsipas is yet to win a Grand Slam title, he has been a runner-up twice at the Majors -- at the 2021 French Open and at the 2023 Australian, losing in both finals to Novak Djokovic.
"I have been very committed and very devoted to the journey. Every single day, I feel grateful that I have chosen you. In the future, I hope we have a reciprocal love for each other. I hope my kids, one day, get to play with you, be part of you and continue and carry over my legacy," Stefanos Tsitsipas said.
The former World No. 3 then recalled one of his best tennis memories -- winning his maiden Masters 1000 title at Monte-Carlo in 2021, the same event he used to attend as a kid.
Tsitsipas asserted that he wouldn't trade the feeling of winning in Monte-Carlo for anything. He added that tennis taught him to never doubt himself and to just keep going on regardless of the end result.
"One of my most memorable memories you have offered to me is my first Masters 1000 trophy in Monte Carlo, which to me feels like home a little bit. I used to attend the event when I was a kid and winning there brought back so many emotions, I felt so nostalgic. It's a feeling that you can't trade for anything. You taught me to live life as it goes, to never doubt myself and to just keep on living, regardless of the outcome," Stefanos Tsitsipas said.
Stefanos Tsitsipas: "What felt so special with tennis is that I felt being part of a playground, my own playground, in which there were no rules or limits"
Stefanos Tsitsipas also recounted the time he fell in love with tennis, at the age of just eight, when he won his first tournament in France. Tennis back then felt like a special playground to the Greek, one in where there were no limits or rules.
Tsitsipas fondly reminisced how he woke up his father in the middle of the night one day and told him to take him off every sport other than tennis. The Greek had made up his mind that tennis would be the only sport for him for the rest of his life.
"What felt so special with you is that I felt being part of a playground, my own playground, in which there were no rules or limits," he said. "I fell in love with you when I was 8 years old and I won my first tennis tournament in Normandy, France."
"I remember waking up in the middle of the night, waking up my father and telling him: 'Sign me off every other sport - football, swimming, track & field, athletics; I just want to do tennis and that will be my sport for the rest of my life,'" Stefanos Tsitsipas added.