Stefanos Tsitsipas talks about his idol Pete Sampras and how he wants to inspire future Greek tennis players

What's the story?

Stefanos Tsitsipas recently talked about his admiration for Pete Sampras, whom he considers as one of his idols. He also mentioned the influence the American-Greek has had on his life, and how he wants to follow in the same footsteps and be an inspiration for future Greek tennis players.

In case you didn't know...

Although Sampras was born in the United States of America and represented them in tennis, his ethnic ancestry is Greek. Being the greatest player of the 1990s, Sampras was highly revered in Greece as well as the world at large.

Pete Sampras

The heart of the matter

Tsitsipas wrote on his Instagram page, “Despite being at the end of his (Pete Sampras) career, my childhood was filled with @petesamprasofficial matches and battles that I will never forget. This person has given me the courage and eagerness to pursue my dream. A dream that felt insanely difficult to reach."

The NextGen star went on to elaborate on these sentiments by thanking Sampras for all that he had done.

"Thank you for filling my childhood with enthusiasm, hope, hard work ethic and… for me to play tennis in the first place. You are an inspiration up to this day, and I hope an inspiration for many generations to come."

In a first-person essay written for the ATP, Tsitsipas also discussed his role in inspiring the next generation of Greek tennis players.

“It's very motivating to be the one who can create history in Greece and have kids look up to me later. They, as 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 wants to inspire kids from his country to take up tennis

What's next?

As Greece isn't a particularly prominent tennis nation, the emergence of Tsitsipas is a huge deal for the country. Just as Federer inspired a small nation like Switzerland to new levels of tennis activity, Tsitsipas could do the same for Greece - which can only be a positive for the game.