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Greek right-hander is in second place in the ATP Race To Milan
Stefanos Tsitsipas might find his way into the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings in the very near future if he keeps this up. Greece's #NextGenATP star won his ninth match out of 11 on Wednesday, upsetting seventh seed Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6(6) at the Rogers Cup in Toronto to reach his first third round at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.

The 19-year-old Tsitsipas, No. 27 in the ATP Rankings, picked up his fourth Top 10 win (4-9) and his second against Thiem, who still leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-2.

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The Austrian beat Tsitsipas in four sets at Roland Garros en route to his maiden Grand Slam final in June. But on the hard courts in Canada, Tsitsipas was dialled in, winning 95 per cent of his first-serve points (38/40) and never facing a break point.

“I felt very confident from the beginning of the match. I felt like I was stronger than him today... and confidence played an important role in my game today. I felt my serve was working really well. And I managed to win lots of easy points on my serve and put pressure on him, knowing that he cannot find solutions while I was serving on my service games,” Tsitsipas said.

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“It was a fantastic match from the beginning till the end. And I'm really looking forward to my next match because I want to prove that I can play even better than that.”

Thiem, for his part, was broken only once, but Tsitsipas converted his third match point in the second set tie-break to advance. “It was a tough match. Obviously he's in form... For an opponent like Stefanos, who is playing great right now, who had a great run last week, also already one good win here, it was just not good enough,” Thiem said.

Tsitsipas, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon (l. to Isner), will next meet ninth seed and four-time champion Novak Djokovic, who beat home favourite Peter Polansky of Canada 6-3, 6-4 earlier Wednesday.

Tsitsipas is in good position to debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan. Tsitsipas is in second place in the ATP Race To Milan. The top seven players in the Race will qualify automatically, while the eighth spot will be reserved for the winner of an all-Italian qualifier tournament to be held just prior to the prestigious 21-and-under event.

ATP Race To Milan

Did You Know?
Tsitsipas served as an alternate at last year's inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals. It was an experience that the Greek said motivated him even more to want to qualify for the 2018 edition of the event.

Teenager to face second seed Zverev next
#NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas created the biggest upset of the Rogers Cup on Thursday, stunning former World No. 1 and recent Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 at the Rogers Cup on Thursday to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final.

"I feel very proud for me, myself, and my country. I'm putting Greece more deep into the map of tennis. So I'm pretty sure I'm making my family proud, all of those people that are watching, my coach, my father. It was a very emotional win," Tsitsipas said. "I've never felt so many emotions after a victory."

One year ago this week, the teenager did not own a tour-level win. Sitting at No. 168 in the ATP Rankings, Tsitsipas lost in the semi-finals of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Portoroz, Slovenia. It is safe to say that the 19-year-old has come a long way since then.

This is yet another accomplishment in what has been a season full of breakthroughs for the teenager, who is currently second in the ATP Race To Milan. This time last year, Tsitsipas did not own a tour-level match win.


But the Greek is now into his seventh ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. Last week at the Citi Open, he made his third semi-final. And his win over Djokovic did not come out of nowhere. In the second round, Tsitsipas earned his fourth Top 10 win against Dominic Thiem.

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Tsitsipas will next face second seed Alexander Zverev, who sped past 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2. Tsitsipas lost to Zverev last week in Washington, D.C., in their only FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup.


It wasn't that four-time Rogers Cup champion Djokovic played poorly, but Tsitsipas competed with a clear confidence on Centre Court. The Serbian took advantage of some tight errors from his younger opponent at the end of the second set to force a decider. But Tsitsipas broke in his first return game of the third set, with a laser-like backhand down the line, and never looked back.

"I was serving well, so that break was everything," Tsitsipas said. "It gave me the win at the end. And serving, [it was] unbelievable. returning pretty well here and there during the match. Yeah, [it is the] best win of my career."

Many teenagers would show nerves when serving out a match against one of the greatest returners in tennis history, but Tsitsipas showed no fear. He earned his first match point with a cross-court forehand winner and clinched his two-hour, 18-minute victory with another one, dropping his racquet to the court with joy.

"I knew he had some issues in some particular shots in his game, I would say. So I was waiting and I grabbed him like a bulldog and stuck there and executed, I executed my plan," Tsitsipas said. "I knew that at some point he's going to break, and I just patiently waited for this moment and it happened."

Djokovic was trying to continue the momentum he had built with his Wimbledon title after also reaching the final at the Fever-Tree Championships. The Serbian is now 26-10 this season.

Did You Know?
Tsitsipas is one of two teenagers in the Top 30 of the ATP Rankings, with fellow #NextGenATP Denis Shapovalov ranked one spot ahead of him at No. 26.

Will face Kevin Anderson in semi-finals
#NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas produced a stunning comeback on Friday, saving two match points to upset defending champion Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-6(11), 6-4 at the Rogers Cup.

The 19-year-old hit 28 winners, including 18 on his forehand side, to come from 3-6, 2-5 down and stun the second seed after two hours and 27 minutes. Tsitsipas becomes the youngest player since Rafael Nadal in 2006 (Monte-Carlo) to conquer three Top 10 opponents in a single tournament.


In his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final, Tsitsipas will face World No. 6 Kevin Anderson for a place in Sunday's final. He is bidding to become the youngest player to claim four successive Top 10 wins at the same event since the ATP World Tour was established in 1990.

Tsitsipas leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0 after winning their only previous meeting at the Millennium Estoril Open in May. Tsitispas, currently ranked at a career-high No. 27 in the ATP Rankings, is guaranteed to break into the Top 20 for the first time on 13 August.

Friday's quarter-final ended in dramatic fashion. Serving at 30/15, Zverev elected to not use one of two remaining challenges after his inside-out forehand was called out, but on TV review was shown to catch a big part of the line. At 30-all, the German made a clunky attempt at a low backhand volley, which sailed long. He then sent a second serve well long to hand Tsitsipas the match.

Zverev was bidding to win the Washington, D.C.-Canada double for the second successive year. The 21-year-old, who drops to 43-12 this season, defeated Alex de Minaur to retain his Citi Open title without dropping a set last week.


"I mean, I was up 6-3, 5-3, serving for the match. So it should have been a three and three match, and then I would have been [in press] about one-and-a-half hours ago," said Zverev. "But now I'm going to go to Cincinnati. I'll do everything I can to prepare myself there and play well there. But as I said, I didn't feel the ball at all. I didn't play well. So a lot of it didn't depend on me."

After falling behind an early break, Zverev capitalised on forehand errors from Tsitsipas and took risks on his own forehand to earn successive breaks for a 3-2 lead. The German began to find rhythm on serve from there, dropping just one point in his following two service games to establish control before lifting his aggression and taking the set after 31 minutes.

ATP Race To Milan


A rifled backhand winner and pinpoint forehand return from Zverev applied pressure to Tsitsipas in the fourth game of the second set, who surrendered his serve after multiple mistimed forehands. Zverev looked focussed as he served for the match at 5-3, before Tsitsipas found his best level. The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell finalist found inspiration on his forehand and soon levelled the match at 5-5 to extend the encounter.

A stunning tie-break soon followed, with both men showing flashes of brilliance and nerves under intense pressure. But it was Tsitsipas who showcased the greater variety, mixing brutal backhands and delicate drop shots to level the match on his fifth set point, after saving two match points, after Zverev misfired on his backhand side.


After trading early breaks, the decisive moment came in the 10th, and final, game of the decider. After failing to convert three break points in the previous game, Zverev looked set to level the third set at 5-all before a series of dramatic events.

Serving at 30/15, he elected to not use one of two remaining challenges after his inside-out forehand was called out, but on TV review was shown to catch a big part of the line. At 30-all, the German made a clunky attempt at a low backhand volley, which sailed long. He then sent a second serve well long to hand Tsitsipas the match.

Did You Know?
Juan Martin del Potro will rise to a career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings on 13 August after Zverev's quarter-final loss.

The Greek star reveals the last time...
I missed a flight
I never miss flights. I am always on time. My dad organizes everything for me and he tries to be on time. I just do what he tells me.

I lost something important
I lost my credential to the Citi Open (Washington, D.C.) so I had to replace it. They were happy to make a new one for me.

I forgot an important birthday or anniversary
My brother’s birthday [in late July]. We woke up and had breakfast together. I looked at the date on my phone and said ‘Oh, it’s your birthday today, Happy Birthday!’ Thank God I didn’t miss the whole day. I actually bought him a gift earlier and gave it to him before his birthday. There were no more gifts on the birthday!

I paid money to rent a tennis court
Ooh, I always play for free. I know… it was in Greece at a local club near my house. It was right after the French Open. I also bought grass-court balls to prepare for the grass season.

I took advantage of a perk
I had a free stay at a hotel for five days on the island of Corfu, in the north-west of Greece. It’s very popular with British and Italian people. A friend had really good contacts and arranged this for me. I had a suite with a private pool and jacuzzi. My brother had a room next to mine. I’ve never had such a good time on vacation. The suites cost $2,500 each and I got them for free. It was a brand new hotel and we were the first people to stay there. I’m very thankful for that.

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I strung a tennis racquet
Never. The only part I know how to do is to give the racquet to the stringer. In an emergency situation it would be helpful to know how to do it. We’ll get there!

I cooked for myself or someone else
Back at home. A Greek salad and then I baked a chocolate cake. I was really into it that day… I felt I wanted to cook that day. I baked an entire chocolate cake by myself and it was delicious.

I went to a concert
Unfortunately, I have never been to a concert. I’ve never had time. But I’m excited to go to one. I heard that Federer went to Coldplay last year in Canada. I would love to go to one. I love Coldplay and their songs.

I had a travel drama
We flew into Paris but then missed our train to another city because the taxi got caught in very bad traffic and it took us 2 ½ hours to get to the train station. We stayed overnight and went the next morning. We were super tired and exhausted from the trip.

Greek teenager wins fourth consecutive match against a Top 10 opponent
#NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas made history on Saturday at the Rogers Cup, becoming the youngest player to beat four Top 10 opponents at a single tournament since the ATP World Tour was established in 1990.

The 19-year-old moved into his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, saving one match point to defeat fourth seed Kevin Anderson 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(7) in the semi-finals. Tsitsipas will attempt to lift his maiden tour-level trophy against World No. 1 Rafael Nadal or Russian Karen Khachanov.

"Playing in a Masters 1000 final is the best thing that can happen on your birthday," said Tsitsipas, who turns 20 on Sunday. "I cannot believe it."

It's a tremendous accomplishment considering that this time last year, Tsitsipas was still two months from earning his first tour-level match win. Now, he is the first player since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Toronto four years ago to beat four members of the Top 10, clearly proving he is one of the hottest players on the ATP World Tour.


Tsitsipas also defeated World No. 8 Dominic Thiem in the second round, 69-time tour-level champion Novak Djokovic in the third round and defending titlist Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, before ousting the World No. 6 Anderson. Prior to this week at the Aviva Centre, the Greek had just three wins against the elite group.

The Athens native is the first unseeded Rogers Cup finalist since Nicolas Kiefer finished runner-up in Toronto in 2008 (l. to Nadal). Tsitsipas, who was No. 168 in the ATP Rankings this week a year ago, will climb to at least No. 15 on Monday. If he wins the tournament, he will soar to No. 12.

"I couldn't achieve anything better in one tournament, beating all those high-ranked players, playing amazing tennis," Tsitsipas said. "I'm pretty sure the crowd didn't expect that. I personally didn't expect that. So it's going pretty well so far and I'm pretty psyched for the final tomorrow."


In his second win against Anderson, the teenager won all 17 of his service games, and he has not yet been broken by the South African in the six sets they have played. Tsitsipas, who leads their FedEX ATP Head2Head series 2-0, also beat the South African in May on clay in Estoril.

The players were knotted at 4/4 in the deciding tie-break when Tsitsipas played sensational defence on his forehand side, making Anderson play an extra ball, which he missed with his own forehand. The teenager earned his first match point with a forehand winner, but double-faulted long. And on his second opportunity, he couldn't quite stave off his opponent's offence, missing a looping forehand long.

But Tsitsipas stayed focused, saving a match point with a stunning crosscourt one-handed backhand winner, before eventually closing out the semi-final on his third chance when the South African missed just long.

"It's obviously incredibly difficult losing a match like that where it's so close at such a big stage of the tournament," Anderson said. "I did what I could. I thought he played some really good tennis, especially when it mattered the most. I had a couple of break points end of the second set and then in the third set too. He didn't miss a first serve. He played really well then.

"On the one match point that I had, he came up with an unbelievable backhand crosscourt winner. So it was a very impressive effort from him."

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The right-hander did a good job of adjusting his game throughout the match. Anderson dictated many of the rallies early, striking balls inside the baseline and keeping his opponent back with big kick serves. But Tsitsipas was unafraid of taking risks, consistently moving to the net in the second and third sets, finishing many points with backhand volleys.

If Tsitsipas does face Nadal on Sunday, it’ll be the second time in their two meetings that they have played for a championship. The Spaniard prevented the Greek from lifting his maiden trophy at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell this April, prevailing in 77 minutes to capture his 11th title at the event. Tsitsipas won his only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Khachanov last year in Shanghai.

The second-placed player in the ATP Race To Milan, Tsitsipas is the third #NextGenATP competitor to reach multiple tour-level finals this year, joining Alex de Minaur (Sydney, Washington) and Frances Tiafoe (Delray Beach, Estoril).

Did You Know?
Tsitsipas will attempt to become the first player since Albert Portas at Hamburg in 2001 to win his first ATP World Tour title at a Masters 1000 event.

#NextGenATP Greek climbs to a career-best World No. 15 Monday
One year ago this week, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas was No. 168 in the ATP Rankings, and competing at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Portoroz, Slovenia. That was when #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov went on a magical run to the Montreal semi-finals, beating Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro along the way.

“It inspired me so much, I was dreaming of being in his place,” Tsitsipas said. “I remember I was watching from the television in Portoroz in the Challenger that I was playing that week, and I was watching his matches every single day. So it was so inspirational to see him beat those guys. I mean, to me, it seemed like completely out of any world what he was doing on the court.”

If this week has proven anything, it’s that dreams do come true.This year’s Shapovalov at the Rogers Cup was Tsitsipas. The #NextGenATP star said, ‘I didn't beat Rafa. He did beat Rafa’, but there was a difference between the two runs. The Greek went one step further than his left-handed counterpart, advancing to the final by defeating four Top 10 opponents — Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson — along the way.


“Now I understand that it is more simple and less complicated than it looks,” Tsitsipas said. “I just had to believe in myself and feel confident playing those guys… so I'm not surprised that I'm here in the finals. I mean, I did the job that I had to do.”

That effort will help Tsitsipas in a major way, propelling him all the way to World No. 15, which is incredible considering he did not earn his first tour-level match win until 10 months ago. Tsitsipas is not only second in the ATP Race To Milan, but he is also one of the hottest players on the ATP World Tour, period. Less than four months ago, he reached his maiden ATP World Tour final at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, also losing against Nadal there. Last week, he reached the semi-finals at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

But while Tsitsipas is thrilled with the way he is playing, the 20-year-old has no intention of slowing down. He doesn’t want to settle for cracking the Top 20 for the first time. The Athens native wants to continue his ascent, and he learned one major lesson against the best player in the world on Sunday.

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“How much I have to work. How much gap there is between him and me in our games, and how much more I need to, I don't want to be rude, but bust my [behind] more on the court. Work more hours and become stronger and a more solid baseliner, and withstand pressures, physical pressures on the court that to him it just seems like nothing special. That's the big difference between my game and his game.

“He never cracks. He will always grab you like a bulldog and… he will always make you suffer on the court. And it is amazing what he has built as a player. I mean, he was, like, you know, normal like all of us, and he managed to become this beast, this monster that he is today.”


It’s something to strive toward for a player who is just getting started. When Roger Federer turned 20, he was World No. 39. Zverev, who is now No. 3 just more than a year later, was 20th. So Tsitsipas is in pretty good company.

“I'm really hungry for more. I believe I can achieve much more this year… although I lost today, I feel like I can still beat good players,” Tsitsipas said. “I really want to make more points this year and get the best out of me.”