Stefanos Tsitsipas on winning an ATP title with brother Petros: “I wouldn’t compare it to anything in the world”
It was a whole family affair with both Tsitsipas parents (and doubles coach Paula Badosa) cheering the victory in Antwerp, Belgium.
For world No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas, competing alone is part of the job. Even when holding up the champion’s trophy on center court with a crowd of cheering fans, singles players usually stand on their own.
That is, until Tsitsipas teamed up with younger brother Petros last month for some familial doubles play.
“It never went through my head that we would have such a moment,” No. 7 seed Stefanos told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj after his opening victory at the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday. (Video above)
It was in Antwerp where the brothers and on-again, off-again doubles partners finally overcame their quarterfinal hurdle to make a deep run at the European Open. With Stefanos' girlfriend Paula Badosa taking up coaching duties, the unseeded team took out the No. 4 seeds Matwe Middelkoop and Andreas Mies on their way to the final, where they toppled Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-8 for their first ATP doubles title.
It also gave Petros his first ATP Tour title overall, which Stefanos called ‘the most emotional’ moment of his own career.
“I remember serving on match point and thinking to myself I’m about to win an ATP title with my brother,” Tsitsipas told Amritraj. “I’ve won titles in my career, I wouldn’t compare it to anything in the world. That title means more to me than any other title that I’ve won in my entire life, any trophy that I’ve won.
“Seeing my brother so happy, It made me so happy as an older brother to help him through that.”
Tsitsipas is back on his own in Paris, where he kicked off his campaign with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Basel champion Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Greek, who reached the final at the Australian Open and lifted his lone trophy of the year in Los Cabos in August, is hoping to lock down a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin with a strong performance at the year’s final ATP Masters 1000 event.
The world No. 6 will go for his 50th match win of the year when he takes on No. 10 seed Alexander Zverev in the round of 16 on Thursday.