ATP Cup: Greece ready for Brisbane

2019 has however been extra special to the Greek star; in Indian Wells he also met his childhood motivation to go and play tennis, Pete Sampras. Sampras, being of Greek descent, also shares his birthday and the pair had a short talk when they met. On Instagram Tsitsipas reacted: "That (dreaming) face you make when you meet the first guy that you’ve ever watched play tennis on TV."

He continued: "The person that made you want to go out at the tennis courts in the beach, made you dream about playing on all of the big stages and arenas around the world, winning trophies and titles, becoming an inspiration for others. Despite being at the end of his career, my childhood was filled with @petesamprasofficial matches and battles that I will never forget."

"This person has given me courage and eagerness to pursue my dream. A dream that felt insanely difficult to reach... it’s an honor to be standing next to you Pete. Thank you for filling my childhood with enthusiasm, hope, hard work ethic and an eager for me to play tennis in the first place. You are an inspiration up to this day, and I hope and inspiration for many generations to come."

To ATPTour.com Tsitsipas admitted he doesn't feel any pressure going into the ATP Cup: “I'm super hungry to win matches and get up in the ATP Rankings, to be the best in my country. Pressure about leading Greece? Never,” he wrote. “It's very motivating to be the one who can create history in Greece and have kids look up to me later. They, like my parents did after my early losses, can be the ones chasing after me and shouting my name. I can inspire them and be the leader of tennis in Greece.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas teams up with his brother Petros - who was actually named after Pete Sampras - and Michail Pervolarakis. The latter is likely to play the doubles match with the Greek No. 1 and has the utmost respect: “He’s a really nice guy, so overall it’s just an amazing experience being with him. We talk sometimes. I actually just had a baby, I send him pictures of my baby sometimes,” Pervolarakis told ATPTour.com.

“[He has] a very big impact [in Greece]. Everyone now is watching tennis in the most random places. Instead of soccer or basketball they’re watching tennis and the [Nitto] ATP Finals or Grand Slams. I think those kids want to play and connect with Stefanos. They want to start and see what the sport is all about. It’s just becoming bigger in general as a sport.”

Pervolarakis is the new kid on the tennis block coming from an unranked position to No. 433 in the world after 2019. Tsitsipas is partly responsible for his success as well, he said: “It’s really motivating to see what he’s able to achieve. He broke into the Top 100 and that was amazing and now he’s No. 6 in the world. I don’t think he has limits. It’s really motivating to me to see that somebody from my country is able to play at such a high level.”

“Obviously it’s the biggest tournament I’ve ever played and probably will play next year. So being in a tournament with the top guys in the world, the top tennis players, playing as a teammate as Stefanos, that will be an amazing experience for me,” Pervolarakis said.

“Also, it’s a new event, and I think it’s really cool. Obviously you represent your country in every event, but in this one specifically you’re a team and you have opponents from different countries. I think people are really going to enjoy this tournament.” he concluded.

Playing an event for your country is always special. “We all have something extra inside of ourselves,” Stefanos Tsitsipas said. “We’re playing for the country, which makes it very important for us.”

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