Ranked at World No.27, Stefanos Tsitsipas entered the 2018 Rogers Cup as a longshot to win the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The Greek star had never competed in Toronto, and had only made one career ATP-level final. However, he embarked on an incredible run to the final that saw him defeat four Top 10 players. At 19, he became the youngest player to achieve this feat since the ATP Tour was established in 1990.

"The support was amazing. I felt like I was playing in my hometown. There were so many Greek fans,” Tsitsipas told ATP Uncovered. “It was just the energy I received in every single match I played there. Everyone was with me and it gave me a lot of strength. It helped me do very, very well there. It was the week of my life.”

Tsitsipas put the world on notice by upsetting then-World No.8 Dominic Thiem in the Round of 32. He then faced a resurgent Novak Djokovic, who was ranked World No.10 at the time.

"I was actually not paying attention that much to if I was facing Djokovic or whoever else. I was concentrating on my game,” Tsitsipas said. “I knew that if I would start thinking too much, then it wouldn’t be good for my game, so I said, ‘Keep playing, keep doing what you’re doing, you’re doing it well."

After twice rallying from a set down to defeat both Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson, Tsitsipas faced top seed Rafael Nadal in the final.

“I lost to Rafa in Barcelona. It is not easy to come back and play another final against Rafa,” Tsitsipas said. “I was a bit nervous, thinking too much, something I wasn’t doing before that.”

Despite his best efforts, the Spaniard prevailed 6-2, 7-6(4). However, Tsitsipas would go on to win the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, and the Nitto ATP Finals the following year.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDUj_ApTU-o[/embed]

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