Stefanos Tsitsipas, the new ATP darling.
Once in a great while, I watch a tennis match and have the niggling feeling that I’m experiencing a changing of the guard. It happened at the 2001 Wimbledon, when Roger Federer took out Pete Sampras and again (at Wimbledon. Go figure….) in 2006 when Rafael Nadal defeated Andre Agassi. But there’s more to it than just a youngster taking out a veteran.
Tennis is a sport of youth after all…well, usually it is. Considering who has won the last seven slams, that might be debatable at the moment; but as a general rule, it’s true. Guys get old and they start losing, or they’re Gustavo Kuerten and their hips refuse to function, and a new generation is born. Lather, rinse, repeat. It’s hardly surprising, but it IS occasionally special.
I felt it again this week when Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Novak Djokovic. There was something different in the air at the tournament. The crowd was behind Tsitsipas–90 percent of whom probably cannot pronounce his name. This isn’t extraordinary on its own; Djokovic is not what you’d call a fan favorite (rather unfairly, if you ask me. He’s this era’s Martina Navratilova.) And crowds are quite known for getting behind a random underdog since nothing delights a sports fan more than witnessing the unexpected. But this wasn’t crowd support because an unknown was having a great match. This was awe (and the ensuing delight) at an unknown knocking the stuffing out of seed after seed in round after round.
Tsitsipas made them wonder why they hadn’t heard of him. And by the time he defeated Kevin Anderson in the semifinals, they had their answer. He WAS an unknown, but that was changing right in front of their eyes under the sometimes rainy Toronto sky. There was a very real chance that they were a part (passive though it may be) of tennis history. Current greatness clashed with future greatness–and the future won with surprising ease.
For his part of the story, Tsitsipas is only the youngest player since the ATP was the ATP to defeat four top-10 players at the same tournament. Should he defeat Nadal in Sunday’s final, pandemonium will ensue, and the tennis world will be turned on its ear.
Oh, and there’s the fact that he’s incredibly charming. So much so, that the reporters in his post-match press conference literally applauded AFTER he finished his presser. I have seen them applaud Federer and Nadal prior to a presser to thank them for a job well-done on court, but I’ve never seen them clap because the interview was just that good. Trust me when I tell you that there is definitely something with this guy and you should pay attention.
There is no guarantee that Tsitsipas will be the next Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. But as I sit in the Rogers Cup media room waiting for the men’s final, I hear journalists as I write these words debating the correct pronunciation of his name. The uncertainty is focused on which syllable should be stressed. Is it TZEE-tzee-pas? Or tzee-TZEE-pas? The consensus so far? “We’re just going to call him Stefanos.”
Yeah. That’s what we call buzz. And that’s how a star is born. Personally, I couldn’t be more delighted that the final will be Nadal and Tsitsipas. The crowd will have to choose. Who to cheer for? Their beloved Rafa? Or do they cheer for the story? Past/present or future? My gut says they’ll go for the story, but with some regret. We’ll see.
In the meantime, I can guarantee that Under Armour and Nike were on the phone with the Tsitsipas camp before they got back to the hotel last night. And if they didn’t? Foolish. Very, very foolish. The kid’s a star.
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