Paris
Stefanos Tsitsipas was once described by Novak Djokovic as having “the traits of a champion” and on Sunday he will hope to prove the Serb’s glowing reference was not a misjudgement.
The charismatic 22-year-old, one of the widely-touted ‘NextGen’ of the sport looks to land the first significant bodyblow on the old guard when he tackles the world number one for the French Open title. “He is a hard worker, dedicated, nice guy,” said Djokovic.
“He’s very smart and wise. I love the fact that he is more than just a tennis player and he’s always looking to learn from experience and to understand something new about himself.
“That’s the trait of a champion, of someone who has great potential to be number one in the world and win Slams and be a great ambassador for the sport.”
Blond-haired and standing 6ft 4ins (1.93m) tall, Tsitsipas is the sport’s picture-perfect public face and widely expected to be the natural heir to the likes of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
He is already the youngest player to have defeated all three, completing the admirable task before he was 21.—AP
