By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday March 1, 2020
The Greek star is more than thrilled to take his younger brother under his wing on the doubles court.
Photo Source: Stef Tsitsipas Instagram
It’s all about family for Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek talked at length about his doubles partnership with his brother Petros during his pre-tournament media availability at Rotterdam, saying that he greatly values the opportunity to embark on a new experience with him.
The Greeks made their Grand Slam debut last month at the Australian Open and fell in three sets to Tommy Paul and Mackenzie McDonald. But the appearance made a great impression on Tsitsipas, who is two years older than Petros.
“We made our Grand Slam debut a month ago at the Australian Open which is the best memory of my life, and I think that was a better memory than my semi-final run during my stay in Australia,” he said.
Tsitsipas says he is forever grateful that the tournament gave a precious wild card to them.
"I personally went to Craig Tiley's office and words can't describe, I told him how thankful I am that he gave us the opportunity and it will leave a very beautiful nice memory in the back of my head,” Tsitsipas said. “And hopefully we can do this again someday and play more times in the future."
Tsitsipas, currently ranked six in singles, is still focused on his goals as an individual, but he wants to make time to aid in his younger brother’s development and strengthen their bond.
"I'm primarily focusing, obviously my singles career is important, but I also want to help my brother and make something good out of our doubles performances,” he said. "I would only do it for my brother. I wouldn't do it for anyone else. And I think that partnership is developing into something really exciting for the future. I want to build a team with him exclusively with him—I'm not planning on playing with anyone else—so I would only do it for my brother, I would have some more energy in the tank to play doubles with him."