Stephen Chichipas: “I may not speak well to my father but I feel half without him”

He interviewed Ertnews and responded about tennis, the Paris Olympics, but also about the relationship with his father and coach. Both Stefanos Tsichipas and Apostolos Tsichipas spoke about their relationship, their love of tennis, but also about the points that the leading Greek tennis player must improve to return to the path of success. Stefanos Tsitsipa’s statements “It is a great honour that of course I represent our country and in every match, in every race, I have the opportunity to take it even higher. It’s very important that I bring home an Olympic medal. It’s a life dream for me to be able to compete in these events. Objective 2024 is definitely a Grand Slam and an Olympic medal”. For the fact that the Olympic tournament will take place at the Courts of Roland Garos: “It’s one of my favorite surfaces and I’ve had good fights in Roland Garos in the past, I’ve been a finalist in the tournament. I have the confidence of the past. I know that I am capable of giving great results and I have also proved it with my tennis a few years ago, having very close to the title, which I lost to Novak Djokovic. I felt at the time that I was playing amazing tennis, until Djokovic entered the field and started playing a tennis, which I have never seen playing in any of our encounters before. But it certainly remains as a lesson to me to be able to handle these situations with greater wisdom and not to rush so much.” For his followers: “I have received very much support and love in recent years from the Greek expatriates and I am grateful to have built such a fan base around the world. Tennis, of course, had enabled me to create dreams for young children in our country. It is very important to me that I build through tennis.” About what he would like to improve in his game : “I feel that many times I open opportunities for my opponents and I probably could play even bigger tennis behind the base line. Something I can improve is the effortless mistakes, which I sometimes believe in, in not such good days, I give many effortless mistakes. Something I have worked on recently is also my service, in which I believe I can be even more aggressive and find the corners of the field even clearer.” About his relationship with his father and coach: “My father and I always shared tennis and it was something common, something of ours. And when this comes out of the background, I feel like a part of my identity is missing as a player. There have been moments in the past where he wasn’t with me and I felt almost half as a player. It was something that has always been our common passion. It gives me a lot of confidence in the game because it’s someone who I know there can be times when something is wrong and he can be there, analyze it, observe it, give me the best advice and feel me in the best way than any other person. Sometimes I don’t speak very well, but he’s the only one who understands it and he’s part of the job. The good thing about this is that we can tell the father’s work and the coach’s job apart. Sometimes he is involved, but we have found a way to put it back where it belongs.” For his grandfather: “He lives with me somehow. I feel it’s part of my legacy. It is something that I have deep inside, but talent, is all of my mother’s.” For his… love of tennis and the sequel of the season: “No Greek had fallen in love with tennis and I wanted to be the first. From now on I feel healthy, I feel I can fight 100% again, I feel that this is my moment and that from now on I have no excuse not to do better.” The statements of the Apostle Chichipa “Now with the Olympic Games, it is an opportunity to prove that he has an advantage. The Olympic Games are for me a culture. It’s a noble match, it’s an interaction between peoples. These are the ideals which have been initiated by our ancestors.” For the team behind Stefano: “Every year an assessment of his race course is made the previous year and we add things. There’s the team involved in analyzing the game. Professionals of the site analyze all of Stephen’s games and make some decisions and we are always open to improve, because if you are not open to improve, he will remain stationary. We went through some difficulty at the end of the year with his service, now we have made some changes in the service and wait to see.” For Greek temperament and reactions at the time of the race: “So we are used to being very young when you guide children. That’s part of the art. When we started traveling, no one thought we could go that far. Coaching allowed is part of the process. That depends on Stephen himself. To guide us, to tell us exactly what it needs, in which parts of the race it needs to exist.” About Stephen’s mother: “She is too strict about tennis, about everyday life she is terribly sensitive. But when she walks into the tennis court, even as a spectator, it’s like she’s fighting herself. I think we have been very strong through tennis as a family, so we have been together for so many years and we achieve these goals. Most coaching in their childhood was their mother’s. My wife’s father was a gold medalist in ’54 in Melbourne.”