Greece’s star tennis players have arrived in Australia and are ready to kick off 2022 with a bang.
The Adelaide International, running from 2 to 9 January will see Maria Sakkari and Despina Papamichail go up against the world’s top female tennis players facing names the likes of Ashleigh Barty, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is set to start his 2022 on the very first day for the men’s tennis tournament held by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
The world No 4 leads for Greece in Group C, taking it up Hubert Hurkacz, Diego Schwartzman and Nikoloz Basilashvili in group play.
Having already shown his great condition at Sydney Olympic Park while practicing on Wednesday he said that he’s made a full recovery from his elbow injury that made him withdraw from the ATP finals earlier this year in Paris.
“My elbow is fantastic. I am sure I will be 100 per cent back. The goal is definitely to go even higher. I hope the preparation goes well and that the new year will be three times better than this season,” Tsitsipas said.
When asked about Novak Djokovic’s decision to keep his vaccination status private earlier this week, fully vaccinated Tsitsipas said that he respects it.
Djokovic’s participation at the Australian Open remains a mistery as does his vaccination status.
“It is his choice, I respect it. Everyone has the freedom to decide (…)”
Tsipipas himself received a lot of negative backlash earlier this year as he too had announced that he does not promote mandatory vaccinations. He later retracted deciding to get vaccinated in order to “have a normal life”.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas might well be the only top name competing in Melbourne as Federer will not be playing at the Australian Open, while neither Nadal nor Djokovic are certain.
“That is how it’s going to be generally in a few years time, potentially three years time,” he said during an ATP Cup press conference.
“So getting used to it early, it’s pretty much the new reality. Let’s see how tennis works out without the top three. I really want to see which players are going to prevail,” Tsitsipas said.
“We are able to bring tennis to a very high level, we have something different to offer than what Djokovic or Federer or Nadal have. We just have to work hard every single day, bring the best out of this game and set the bar high. I’m playing for myself and if young kids are inspired by what we do then we’ve done our job right,” he added, proud to be representing the new generation of tennis players in Greece.
On another note, local Greek talents Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have been awarded a wildcard for the first week of the Adelaide International Sydney Tennis Classic respectively.
Kokkinakis will be making his debut at the tournament following serious injury this year.
Kyrgios will also be making a comeback following a quiet 2021 out of choice to focus on his mental and physical health.
“I’ve been training at home in Canberra and here in Sydney and I feel good after an extended break from the game,” Kyrgios told ABC News.
“I’m looking forward to the final hit-out before the Australian Open, thanks to Tennis Australia for the opportunity to play.”
