Stefanos Tsitsipas says he wants to push his boundaries and break records as he is determined to win his first title at this week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Tsitsipas, 24, is making his sixth main draw appearance in Rotterdam this week.
After reaching the Rotterdam semifinal in 2021, Tsitsipas ended runner-up to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the 2022 Rotterdam final.
“As a tennis player, I want to push my boundaries and push them. Break records. This week I can do that by getting my name on that board there. If I can do that, I’ll be a very happy man,” Tsitsipas said, per the Rotterdam tournament website.
Tsitsipas believes he is a born champion
Tsitsipas, ranked at No 3 in the world, has spoken multiple times about his desire to do major things and finish as an all-time great.
At this past Australian Open, Tsitsipas fell just short of winning his first Grand Slam title and becoming the world No 1 for the first time in his career.
Had Tsitsipas defeated Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final, he would have won his first Grand Slam and also reached the top spot.
“It’s my time to aim for something like this. I don’t see any reason to be lowering my expectations or my goals. I am born a champion. I can feel it in my blood. I can feel it as a competitive kid that I was when I was young. It’s something that is within me. I want to harvest that, make it bloom, make it even stronger and fonder, work hard towards those goals. It’s that beautiful number, the number ‘1’, that will make things extremely emotional when converting that,” Tsitsipas said after the Australian Open.
This week in Rotterdam, Tsitsipas is the top-seeded player and he defeated Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round.
It remains to be seen if Tsitsipas can go all the way on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam this week.