Despite Being a Roger Federer Loyalist for Years, 24YO Stefanos Tsitsipas Admits New-Found Love and Respect for Spanish Legend Rafael Nadal

Published 06/01/2023, 8:15 AM EDT

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You probably already know that Stefanos Tsitsipas is a massive Roger Federer admirer if you follow him on and off the tennis court. But recently, despite the Greek tennis player’s ardent support for the Swiss Maestro. A new factor unfolded that led him to shift to Rafael Nadal—the arch-rival of his ideal tennis legend. Let’s take a look at what prompted the 24-year-old tennis star to choose the Spaniard over the former tennis star.

Well, between Federer and Nadal, there is a huge contrast, ranging from their tennis accomplishments to their fundamentally different views on what it means to be a well-known tennis player. However, as time goes on, a variety of fresh developments take place that can cause your long-held admiration for the tennis player to shift.

Roger Federer fan Stefanos Tsitsipas chooses Rafael Nadal over his tennis ideal

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The world’s fifth-ranked tennis player is currently playing in the French Open tournament. And after making his way to the third round of the tournament and being Federer loyal for so many years, he recently declared his newfound love for his role model’s archrival.

He was questioned about the simplicity and complicity of tennis in a post-match press conference after defeating Roberto Carballés Baena. The Greek responded that most players do not exactly relate to the Swiss, since it is challenging to replicate the 20x Grand Slam winner’s precision.

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He said, “In that regard I want to say that having asked that question, I thought about it the other day, and I had a little bit of a read of Rafa’s book of how Rafa relates to a lot of players because of he kind of shows you that anyone can do it, and I think that’s a great example right there, you know. Now, on the other instance, Federer’s precision is kind of difficult to duplicate or replicate in a way.” 

‘Nobody Talks a Lot About Federer..’- Aged Australian Tennis Legend Delivers a Brutally Honest Take on the Current Wave of Next Gen Stars Like Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune

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The Australian Open finalist stated that the Spaniard embodies hard work leading to success. On the other hand, Federer’s precision is incredibly challenging to replicate. However, a few months before itself the Greek tennis player picked Federer as the GOAT. He stated a totally different explanation for his take.

When Tsitsipas picked Federer as the ultimate GOAT

The 20-time Grand Slam champion was referred to by the Greek tennis player as the “GOAT” of the sport in an interview with Marca. He clarified that, in his opinion, a tennis player’s standing in history is not just determined by the number of matches or trophies they have amassed. According to him, the greatest tennis player of all time is the one who has motivated the most people to take action on their own. Along with that, also shares the strongest bonds with tennis fans.

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WATCH THIS STORY |  The Journey of Roger Federer to the Elite Billionaire’s Club

Not only that, last year, when the Swiss maestro played his last tournament at the Laver Cup. The 24-year-old tennis player shared a lot of insights from his role model’s priceless possessions that he received from his sporting ideal.

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Written by:

Pratishtha Prakash

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Pratishtha Prakash is a Tennis writer at EssentiallySports. She has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media and Journalism from MIT ADT University, Pune. Being a sports enthusiast, she has been following varied sports like tennis, cricket and Esports from her childhood.
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Edited by:

Akash Pandhare