Stefanos Tsitsipas — The Beauty of Tennis

Welcome to another installment of the Beauty of Tennis series, featuring Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 20-year-old with flowing, golden locks and a flamboyant, throwback one-hander style on court is one of the #NextGen stars that both fans and pundits can agree on — and they’re expecting some champion results in his future.

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Stefanos scored his first title last year in Stockholm, and is currently sitting pretty (very pretty) at his career high of #15. That number will climb even higher on Monday, as Stefanos has reached the semifinals of the 2019 Australian Open with a chance to go further.

We here at Tennis Inside Out knew we had to have Stef in our Beauty of Tennis series, which features black and white photos, some experimental filters, and unexpected points of view. As we’ve learned from his avid social media use as well as more formal press interviews, the young Greek has an artistic side, which he exhibits most extensively on the ambitiously creative Stefanos Tsitsipas YouTube channel.

His more sensitive and sometimes quirky nature, and surreal observations shared on Twitter and Instagram, have sometimes earned him a bit of teasing from the more “macho” guys on tour — but that hasn’t deterred him. He’s determined to express himself however he likes, and also work hard and kick some ass on the tennis court. After he took down the Maestro Slam champion Roger Federer at the AO, an awestruck Stef said, “my idol today became, pretty much, my rival.”

With all that in mind, we’ve snagged a bit of poetry from the Ancient Greek text The Iliad, by Homer. Perhaps it’s a bit of an on-the-nose choice for Stefanos, but we’ll throw a curveball in by using this quote about underdogs — by the Trojan hero Hector.

…never hope by words to frighten me
as if I were a baby. I myself understand well enough
how to speak in vituperation and how to make insults.
I know that you are great and that I am far weaker than you are.
Still, all this lies upon the knees of the gods; and it may be
that weaker as I am I might still strip the life from you
with a cast of the spear, since my weapon too has been sharp before this.

Homer, The Iliad

So now it’s time to SCROLL DOWN for the slideshow of images to see Stefanos in action! As always, we try to select photos that show off the elegance of the player’s tennis, which isn’t difficult at all in this case. And of course a tribute to a Greek god of the court has got to focus on his incredible bone structure, long and lean limbs, and tousled curly hair. We hope you enjoy!

Click on any pic to start the STEFANOS TSITSIPAS SLIDESHOW. Click the X icon in the viewer to get it in fullscreen!

Let us know which shot is your favorite!
(Images best viewed on a big screen, but hopefully the gallery works well for you all on mobile as well!)

PHOTOS: c2018 Valerie David for TennisInsideOut.com

Poem Excerpt from The Iliad by Homer.