Stefanos Tsitsipas felt emotional after meeting his idol and close friend Marcos Baghdatis following his victory over Dominic Thiem to win the title in his maiden appearance at the ATP World Tour Finals 2019 on Sunday.
Number six seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was interviewed by the Greek commentator and former world No.8 Marcos Baghdatis and the youngster teared up telling him how much he inspired him. “I don’t know if I’d be here if it weren’t for you,” Tsitsipas told him. Marcos Baghdatis also teared up too before the pair had an emotional hug.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas and Marcos Baghdatis have been really good friends for a long time after the veteran player started to give tips to the next-generation star from last year and help him as much as he can.
Video of the moment #tsitsipas #baghdatis #NittoATPFinals https://t.co/eD2zjS6ooZ pic.twitter.com/Oe96Hqk7E3
— angie (@ultravoxing) November 17, 2019
In an interview with the Age earlier this year, Stefanos Tsitsipas opened up about his relationship with the Cypriot and said: “It’s really nice to have him next to me because I’ve been idolizing him my whole life. I’ve never really thought of him being so close to me. That would be the coolest thing ever. He’s close with me. We even arranged a couple of times to play doubles together this year, so it’s nice.”
The 21-year-old had also revealed that he found inspiration from Baghdatis after his dream run at the 2006 Australian Open when he reached the finals in Melbourne.
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“I remember the finals. Everyone was watching. Everyone. That was very inspiring to see. Around that age, I started playing tennis. It made me love the sport, even more, having faith and maybe doing something similar one day. Like him (Marcos Baghdatis,” Tsitsipas explained in an interview, earlier this year.
Stefanos Tsitsipas edged past Dominic Thiem 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in 2 hours and 35 minutes in the final of the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals, winning his third title in the season.