The countdown is on for the Australian Open tournament to kick off and Stefanos Tsitsipas is looking forward to return to his ‘home slam’ as he called it during an interview with the AO Show Podcast.
“(Australia) is one of my favourite destinations, my ‘home slam’ is located there,” he said.
“Extraordinary country that offers so much beauty outside and on the court, as well.”
Tsitsipas acknowledged he enjoys a huge following in the country admitting that the Greeks’ support in particular over his last appearances has left him with “intense memories”.
“Every single Aussie swing that there has been so far, I’ve had a lot of fun playing those. Traveling around Australia and just seeing Greeks show up in courts everywhere feels amazing. This year in Sydney, I’ve had probably the best Greek support that I have ever had in a tournament competition in my life.
“I’ve had an amazing atmosphere built up during my match with Italy and it left me with some memorable, intense memories that live rent-free inside my head. I have enjoyed every single minute of it on court.”
The world no.6 has been a mainstay in the ATP top 10 since March 2019, and progressing consistently deep at majors for years, including reaching four out of his six Grand Slam semifinals at the Australian Open.
Tsitsipas stated determined to make a promising return to the tournament in 2024. He admitted however that fierce competitors, including last year’s champion Novak Djokovic stand in the way of his hopes for a breakthrough Grand Slam win.
“Right now, we have a lot of great players on the tour playing a lot of great tennis,” Tsitsipas said. “That is probably the most challenging period of my tennis career so far, to find ways to beat those guys, to find ways to pass them in the rankings.”
