Tennis professional Tsitsipas at the US Open: He laughs and wins again – and continues to tease

Last Saturday, Stefanos Tsitsipas, 28, the 1.93 meter tall Greek with the Zeus curls (although without a full Zeus beard), once again premiered his true skills. At “A security guard at the US Open checked my ID three times,” Tsitsipas wrote to his 470,000 followers and described the following dialogue: “Security: Tsitsipas, huh? Me: Yes, sir. Security: My wife loves your quotes. Me: Thank you. Security: She uses them when she wants to tell me that I’m talking nonsense.”

Tsitsipas, the Oscar Wilde philosopher of the tennis guild, has not forgotten how to laugh at himself, and since last Monday afternoon, when he surprisingly defeated the young French newcomer Arthur Fils 4:6, 7:6 (3), 6:1, 6:4 in the first round at the US Open in New York, we know that playing tennis doesn’t either. Because you could almost believe that at one point.

For half his tennis life, Tsitsipas was someone for whom the sky seemed to be wide open before he lost his strength. He is a companion of Alexander Zverev, similar to the German world number two, he shot up, in 2019 he won the unofficial world championship at the ATP Finals, he was in Grand Slam finals twice, in 2021 at the French Open, in 2023 at the Australian Open. His trademark: the one-handed backhand, which is rare in professional practice. Plus: his curls and his dreamy charm.

Both times, when he had almost reached his peak, only the Serb Novak Djokovic, who failed more spectacularly early than in 20 years at the US Open on Sunday, put him in his place. And since then, Tsitsipas has been chasing the triumph he longed for, falling back in the world rankings and currently slipping to 53rd place. But that didn’t mean he disappeared from the headlines. Looking back, it is a failure that no one had the idea to take out the camera and follow the wonderfully emotional Tsitsipas family month after month. They provided material for countless seasons of trash TV.

So that there is no misunderstanding: the Tsitsipas are all extremely likeable. But the fiery clan of father Apostolos, a tennis teacher, and mother Julia Salnikova, a former Soviet-Greek professional tennis player, has the gift of constantly falling out. In 2023, Apostolos once told the SZ in an interview what his, Julia and their three children’s vacation in Iceland was like: “There were six of us in the car and everyone complained about the other.” They haven’t traveled together since then, and worse: Stefanos’ permanent on-off relationship with his father, who once pulled him out of the sea as a child shortly before he drowned, has broken down for the time being. At the clay court tournament in Madrid in May, Stefanos insulted Apostolos so badly on the court that it would not be appropriate for young people to convey what was said at this point.

Tsitsipas’ love affair with Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa, which has now expired, caused further upheaval. The two of them first fed social media wildly like in a soap opera, then the full counter-program: separation, deleted photos together on social media, last attempt, separation again. A brief attempt by Stefanos to work with former Wimbledon winner Goran Ivanisevic also failed – although Djokovic had coached him to many Grand Slam victories. And the Croatian didn’t leave in silence, he sharply criticized Tsitsipas’ work ethic.

Tsitsipas comments almost with relish on his long-term rival’s positive doping test

Anyone who has just looked into his sincere eyes will hardly be able to understand that Tsitsipas was prone to rowdy behavior with some of the players. In particular, he fought fierce duels with Nick Kyrgios, although the Australian knew how short Tsitsipas’s fuse was. Once he was almost disqualified in a match between the two because he allowed himself to be provoked like that.

In any case, Tsitsipas doesn’t forget – maybe that’s one of the reasons why there are so many fires in this family. And so on Monday, when he defeated the talented Fils with an excellent performance, the 28-year-old took a few tricks against Kyrgios. He tested positive for cocaine in a doping test during the lawn tournament in Mallorca in June.

“To be honest: I knew about it before it came out,” Tsitsipas said of the 2022 Wimbledon finalist and emphasized almost with relish: “I’m just telling the truth. When I saw it on social media I just thought, ‘Well, here we go!’ I kind of expected it. However, I’m surprised it came out so late.” Tsitsipas, who is now trained by Patrick Mouratoglou and is in a relationship with a model, explained why he spoke freely and frankly about Kyrgios and his guilt: “I won’t try to cover up for someone I know the truth about.”

He’s undoubtedly buoyant again. Tsitsipas had already sent his first sign of life in Gstaad last July, after a physically difficult year in 2025. It seemed like it came out of nowhere when he won the title there. In New York he rated the success against Fils, which enabled him to play in the second round against the South African Lloyd Harris, more highly. “It’s all too easy to feel insecure – especially when you haven’t beaten top players for a long time,” he said beaming. “That’s why I’m so happy about today.”

And because Tsitsipas is someone who always likes to look at things in a deeper context, he added: “It’s one of those moments that you can look back on and say: I still have the game I’m looking for; I still master the shots and the quality is still there.”