Watch: Stefanos Tsitsipas greets the Australian Open 2022 ball kids, reveals that he was one as well
Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of the favorites to win this year's Australian Open, and off the court, the Greek is making himself even more likable to the Australian public. On Sunday, Tsitsipas enthralled fans by dropping in to greet the ball kids who will keep the Australian Open running smoothly from January 17-30.
At the 2022 Australian Open, a record 380 volunteers between the ages of 12 and 16 have been enlisted to assist the players with their various duties. Tsitsipas, being a former ball kid himself, took the opportunity to thank the "unsung heroes" for their thankless job.
"It has been a privilege. Thank you," he said. "I was a ball kid in my local tennis club. But we weren't as good as you guys. We made plenty of mistakes."
They are the unsung heroes of the Australian Open and today at Melbourne park the ball kids were treated to a big surprise.
Stefanos Tsitsipas popped in to say hi, and came armed with a confession. @cstanaway #9News https://t.co/DTMdJg195a
Tsitsipas also stayed back to spend more time with the kids. This even included taking lessons on how to properly bend the elbows when relaying the ball to the players at their behest.
The World No. 4 also recorded a promotional video of himself dancing with the ball kids, which has since been shared by the Australian Open's official social media handles.
"Our ballkids are ready for anything! 😎" the video was captioned on Instagram. "When the Australian Open is just one week away."
Stefanos Tsitsipas' elbow injury no cause for concern according to Blair Henley
Tennis reporter Blair Henley weighed in on Stefanos Tsitsipas' elbow injury yesterday during the latest episode of Tennis Channel's Inside-In. Initially, Blair did not think Tsitsipas' comments after the tie against Argentina in the 2022 ATP Cup inspired much confidence.
Despite that, Blair felt there was no cause for concern. She feels Tsitsipas' medical team must have given him the green light to play his fixtures only after they were certain his elbow had fully recovered.
"It definitely gave me pause when Tsitsipas said 'We will see how I feel,'" Blair said. "That doesn't sound spectacular. But I think he has experienced people around him that said he's safe to go ahead and play the ATP Cup."
megaphone.link/ADV6872396204Curly Whirly is that you? 😂
@BlairHenley joins the newest episode of Inside-In to cover @steftsitsipas elbow recovery and his new self-proclaimed nickname.
🎧 megaphone.link/ADV6872396204 https://t.co/57FBUi6SQb
On a lighter note, Henley also commented on Stefanos Tsitsipas' new haircut by recalling their conversation at the 2020 US Open. Back then, Tsitsipas had joked that if he ever cut his hair he would be nicknamed 'curly whirl' owing to how naturally curly his hair is.
Now that she was actually seeing it, Henley agreed that it was a good nickname for the 23-year-old.
"We talked about his hair a couple years ago at the 2020 US Open. And he told me that if he ever cut his hair, his nickname would be 'curly whirly'," Henley said. "And with his shorter hair and no facial hair, I concede the 'curly whirly' nickname working for him right now."
Tsitsipas will look to put up a solid display at this year's Australian Open in his bid for a first Grand Slam title.