World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas spoke about the tough upbringing that her mother went through while living in the Soviet Union in the early phase of her life.
Tsitsipas hails from a family with a rich tennis heritage. His father Apostolos, who serves as his coach, had stints as a tennis player on the lower tiers and worked briefly as a line judge before venturing into tennis coaching.
Apostolos has trained his son since the age of three. His mother, Julia Apostoli, played tennis at a professional level, first in Soviet Union colors back in 1980 when she made her Fed Cup debut (currently the Billie Jean King Cup) but switched her allegiance in the 1990s after marrying Apostolos and acquiring Greek citizenship.
Stefanos Tsitsipas shared about a very tumultuous period while her mother lived in the Soviet Union and connected some of the core traits she sees in her to the hardships that the inhabitants of the region faced.
The 25-year-old believes it inculcated a sense of discipline and character because his mother had to "fight" for whatever she wanted.
"Perhaps the discipline that comes with it. Who am I to know what happened in the Soviet Union, but I will tell you something, I feel like these people back then went through hardships and tough times, and I can see that from my mom. Life wasn't easy, and she had to fight for her stuff to get the stuff that she wanted."
"I think that builds character. That builds you to the core, in a way. Strong and disciplined and willing to sacrifice and work hard for the things that you want to achieve in life."
Tsitsipas has enjoyed an upturn in fortunes since returning to the European indoor hardcourt swing. He has reached three semifinals in each of his last three tournaments, which proved sufficient to qualify for the ATP Finals for the fifth year in a row.
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