Stefanos Tsitsipas - Australian Open finalist who was ‘a few breaths from dying’

Not many athletes have their careers and outlook shaped by the experience of death, but the 24-year-old world number four is an exception.
If Stefanos Tsitsipas wins the Australian Open final on Sunday, he will become Greece's first Grand Slam champion and world number one - and his father will be grateful.

Not many athletes have their careers and outlook shaped by the experience of death, but the 24-year-old world number four is an exception.

Tsitsipas' Swimming Incident in 2015

In 2015, when participating in the third level event in Crete, teenagers, Tsitsipas, and friends went swimming and misjudged the strength of the current.

The two boys were swept away until Tsitsipas' father, Apostolos, who was their coach, jumped into the water to bring them to safety.

"We couldn't breathe, I was scared and afraid because I was in the water. I didn't know how it would all end," said Tsitsipas once remembered.

Stefanos Tsitsipas takes a break during a practice session before the Australian Open men's singles final against Novak Djokovic on January 28, 2023.
"My father saw us from a distance and came, began to swim to us and pushed us to the shore. I was a few breaths away from dying.

"If we must die that day, we must do it together. My father is a hero. "I saw life differently that day. I remember how it changed me psychologically after that." Tsitsipas shares an August 12 birthday with Pete Sampras, and is savvy, wise.

He speaks Greek, English and Russian, and has spoken Spanish and Chinese.

Sports family

Sport is in his genes. Lifeguard Apostolos is a coach and his mother, Julia Salnikova, is a former tennis player. His father, Sergei Salnikov, won a gold medal in football in 1956 playing for the Soviet Union. Since taking office in 2016, Tsitsipas' career has been on an upward curve.

He was ranked 210th in the world in his debut season, but by the end of 2017 he had crashed into the top 100 and reached the top five in 2018, the first Greek to achieve such a status.

At the age of 21, he has defeated three of the sport's biggest monsters - Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Tsitsipas became the first Greek to win the Tour Championship, claiming nine in total, but the Grand Slam crown remains elusive.

He hopes that changes when he faces Djokovic in the Australian Open final on Sunday. The study was ranked first in the world for the first time.

His only major final came in 2021, coming close to a French Open crown, winning in two sets before the Serbian made an epic comeback to win the final against Djokovic.

His biggest win to date came when he was 21 years old. He won the ATP Finals title at the end of the 2019 season and became the youngest champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.

Tsitsipas' Tennis Career and Fiery Rivalries

Many tennis experts have regarded Tsitsipas as the potential successor to Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer for a long time due to his tall stature of 6ft 4in (1.93m) and blond hair.

He fits the bill as one of the tennis players' more rounded, but can also be sharp.

Daniil Medvedev has created an interesting rivalry that is quickly following the Big Three.

The Russian once described Tsitsipas' game as "boring".

Tsitsipas called Medvedev a "(expletive) Russian" during a fiery meeting in Miami.

His opponent in Melbourne, Djokovic, is no stranger to fandom.

"He is a hardworking, dedicated, good person," said the Serbian.

"He is very smart and intelligent. I like that he is not only a tennis player, he is always willing to learn and learn something new about himself.

"That's the quality of a champion, someone who has great potential to be number one in the world and win a Slam and be an ambassador for the sport."

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