Stefanos Tsitsipas expresses disbelief as namesake racehorse nabs $27000 prize money with first career win at Yarra Glen

Stefanos Tsitsipas was stunned upon seeing his namesake racehorse 'Tsitsipas' secure his first career win on November 30. The Greek endured a tough campaign in the 2024 ATP tour, failing to qualify for the ATP Finals for the first time since 2018.

'Tsitsipas', on the flip side, is a 3-year-old bay gelding from New Zealand and is trained by T & N Busuttin & Young. The horse is sired by the stallion Staphanos and ran his first career race on November 30 at the Yarra Glen.

The horse was ridden by G1-winning Australian Jockey Craig Newitt as the pair won the race in 2:05.58, defeating another gelding, Gunner, and his rider Connor Murtagh, in the last few meters of the 1968m distance. The 3-year-old took home a significant $27000 in prize money.

World No.11 Stefanos was highly amused to see his namesake horse win the race in stellar fashion. The 26-year-old was also curious to know whether the horse had really been named after him.

"Is this horse actually named after me?!😳," Stefanos Tsitsipas wrote reacting to the horse's win on X

Stefanos Tsitsipas started the season on a disappointing note, facing a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open after losing to Taylor Fritz in four sets. He redeemed himself on clay to win his third Monte-Carlo Masters title before reaching the final of the Barcelona Open.

The Greek reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and the Paris Olympics before witnessing a drop in his form in the latter half of the season. A second-round exit at Wimbledon was followed by a first-round exit from the US Open and the frequent defeats resulted in him ending the year outside of the top ten for the first time in six years.

However, the former World No.3 is itching to make his entry back into the top ten in 2025.

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“I would really like to get back into the top ten" - Stefanos Tsitsipas shares goals for the 2025 season

Rolex Paris Masters 2024 - Stefanos Tsitsipas in action (Source: Getty)

Speaking in an Instagram Q&A session with his followers, Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted that his level of tennis dropped during the 2024 season and he wasn't able to deliver the results like he used to.

"2024 was not an easy year, I thought my level dropped down. I just wasn’t able to deliver the way I’m used to. All these struggles which made me feel like I just need to overcome those struggles and right now tennis is okay, it’s important but there are way more important things right now to deal with in terms of my survival instinct," he said (as quoted by Tennis Gazette).

The 26-year-old vowed to make a return to the world's top ten in 2025 and the ATP Finals, a tournament he holds dear to his heart.

“I would really like to get back into the top ten. 2025 I would love to see myself back there and you know I love the Nitto [ATP Finals] because I had a nice tournament there once. I would love to be there next year because it means a lot to me playing there," Stefanos Tsitsipas added.

Tsitsipas was the youngest player in eighteen years to win the ATP Finals when he clinched the trophy in 2019. He defeated Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zvervev, and Roger Federer on his way to the finals before beating Dominic Theim 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 in the final.