Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached a career-high of World No. 3, has been one of the top players in the ATP Tour in the past few years. Having competed against some of the greatest players, he revealed which aspects of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s game he would pick to build his perfect player.
In a video shared by Wimbledon’s YouTube channel in 2024, Tsitsipas was among several players, such as Sebastian Korda and Jasmine Paolini, asked to build their perfect player. While his answers for forehand and backhand didn’t make the cut, his choices for serve, heart, mentality and footwork did.
“My perfect serve is Milos Raonic’s,” he revealed. “He finds great angles when he serves, and his toss is very consistent and not very easy to read,” he argued. Meanwhile, his favorite footwork is Novak Djokovic’s.
For heart, he went with Nadal. Tsitsipas explained that the Spaniard is one of the “biggest competitors and fighters in modern tennis history. I think that he also shows his heart when he is out of the court, and he is able to come back from every single difficult, excruciating moment.”
And finally, he picked Federer’s mentality. “He is able to keep a consistent, quiet mentality throughout any match,” Tsitsipas explained. “He rarely shows any emotions or shows any negativity, when he is down a break. I find him very inspiring, and I feel like this is something that makes him the athlete that he is.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ start of the 2025 season
Tsitsipas, as much of the rest of the Top 10, had a rocky start of the 2025 season. At the Australian Open, he was eliminated in the first round by Alex Michelsen, a result that dropped him out of the Top 10 in the rankings.
However, after also suffering an early exit in Doha, he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime to win the title in Dubai, which made him return to the Top 10. Then, he was eliminated by Holger Rune in the Round of 16 of Indian Wells, before losing in the second round of the Miami Open to Sebastian Korda.
Historically, Tsitsipas has been successful during the clay season. He has won three of the four past Monte Carlo Masters, including the 2024 edition. He also reached the 2021 French Open final.