Stefanos Tsitsipas has picked up a fan in a place he probably wasn’t expecting to find one. The Greek had an exchange at the credential check on his way into the US Open grounds, and it’s a perfect fit for a player whose reputation for philosophical musings extends well beyond the locker room.
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The guard checked his credentials three times before finally placing the name. “Tsitsipas, huh?” the guard asked. “Yes sir,” Tsitsipas replied. The guard then revealed the real reason for the double take. “My wife loves your quotes.” Tsitsipas thanked him, only for the punchline to land a moment later. “She uses them when she wants to tell me I’m making no sense.”
Tsitsipas has spent years posting exactly the kind of profound-yet-baffling lines that make perfect ammunition for calling someone out, things like “An escalator and an electric toothbrush are two things that can stop working and still attain their original goal,” or the simpler, more universally relatable, “I tried to be normal once. Worst three minutes of my life.”
He can even be poetic, telling fans to “play like kids… to completely disconnect and live in the now… to melt the walls around your heart,” lines that read as sincere but the source is not that deep. Tsitsipas has developed this character where he throws these quotes and statements randomly in interviews or post it through his social media channel. The security guard’s wife apparently keeps a mental catalogue of those as ammunition against her husband.
Along with this weird interaction with the security guard, the 28-year-old Greek arrives at the US Open to catch Arthur Fils in his first round, who is fresh off winning the Cincinnati Open. The two-time Grand Slam finalist has been searching for consistency and even won his first title in Gstaad after 16 months, but at the Grand Slams this year he is yet to go past the second round stage.
The support system is going to be bolstered by the presence of Patrick Mouratoglou himself in New York. Tsitsipas will not be just working with Tomas Perrin, who was responsible for his day-to-day coaching after he separated from his father at Wimbledon.
US Open is the least-performed Grand Slam for the Greek, and he needs to face 10th seed Arthur Fils to even get to the second round. The Frenchman even completely dominates the head-to-head with five wins. Can the former world No. 3 turn the tide with Patrick Mouratoglou in his corner at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Monday, August 31?