Stefanos Tsitsipas insists he’s “chasing something spectacular” at Roland Garros as he attempts to become the first Greek to win a Grand Slam title.
The 22-year-old reached the semi-finals in Paris for the first time on Wednesday with an impressive 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win over Russia’s Andrey Rublev.
Tsitsipas made his big breakthrough at the 2019 Australian Open where he defeated Roger Federer on his way to a maiden last-four spot at the Slams. However, he hasn’t kicked on at the Majors with a last-16 exit in Paris last season followed by first round defeats at Wimbledon and the US Open.
He was a surprise champion at the ATP Finals in London at the back end of 2019 before third round exits in Melbourne and New York when he returned to 2020 duty at the Slams.
“I’m chasing something spectacular,” said world No 6 Tsitsipas, the youngest player in the top 10.
Now with two runs to the last four at the Slams, Tsitsipas believes his time is near despite the stranglehold over the majors exercised by Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
“I would like to tell you that I’m not a NextGen player any more. I’m a proper adult,” he said.
“Second of all, for sure it’s going to come at some point. The big three have been there for a long time. I don’t feel like it’s going to be the same in five, six years’ time, I believe.”
Since dropping the first two sets of his opener in Paris against Spain’s Jaume Munar, the Greek has been on an impressive run, winning 15 sets in succession.
Should he go all the way and lift the title on Sunday, he would be the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion since Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open in 2009.
However, to get there, he will probably have to defeat world number one Djokovic in the semi-final and 12-time champion Nadal in the final.
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